February 16, 2018
I have more pain today, I think after working so hard yesterday afternoon with no break. I opened a new can of “magic” espresso beans and took one.
Dr. Whitehead began with the meditation, this one focusing on body sensations of heaviness and warmth. Great distractions.
Francis came in for the exercises, starting with Tai Chi, only having us do the 10 exercises on our own without his coaching. Then he had us do very gentle head, neck, and body turning to increase range of motion.
After the break, Dr. Whitehead came back. The first exercise was in groups of two. We were to have an everyday, normal conversation without any mention or reference to our pain. The lady next to me asked me if I have any pets, so that opened an easy conversation as I told her about Emily and about Barley. Then she told me about her two cats.
Then Dr. Whitehead asked for “I Statements” to be shared with the group. Only a few had done the assignment, but I did one involving a difficult situation with a web client.
The next topic was how chronic pain affects relationships.
The final topic was to explore your social support system. We ran out of time, though, so I think we’re supposed to finish this for homework, along with starting of a general maintenance plan and a flare management plan.
No Pain Group Acupuncture today due to Chinese New Year