Each Monday, we’ll look at ways to cope well with pain and how to get yourself to use helpful techniques regularly.  It’s your at-home pain management class!

So far we’ve looked at relaxation skills – breathing, relaxation and visualization – that work to decrease pain by helping you be more relaxed.  Guided imagery - while it’s also a relaxation skill - is a bit different.

Guided imagery helps reduce pain more directly through the use of suggestion.  An image is paired with your pain, and by reducing, decreasing or changing the image in some way, your pain may also decrease.   Today we’ll use the image of special water.

Guided imagery of water

There are several ways to use this exercise:

• read through the exercise and then do it from memory (it doesn’t have to be done exactly as I’ve written it)
• tape record the exercise yourself, then play it back for yourself to do
• have someone else read or record the exercise for you

As you try this guided imagery, see if you begin to benefit even more than with the relaxation exercises you’ve tried.

Your assignment:  Do a guided imagery exercise at least once a day.

Next Monday, we’ll look at another guided imagery image.  Other articles in this series:

• How to change a habit, part 1
• How to change a habit, part 2
• Breathing exercises, part 1
• Relaxation exercise
• How to succeed with your new habit
• Breathing exercises, part 2
• 6 great ideas to help you succeed with your new habit
• Cats succeeding at their New Year’s resolution
• Visualization
• Guided imagery, part 2
• Stress management, part 1
• Stress management, part 2
• Why people with pain can’t sleep
• 9 tips to get better sleep

Thanks to bmkorte for the photo at Flickr.  Deadline for your March Pain-Blog Carnival submission is 3/21.

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