Bringing mindfulness to our thoughts about our health

Our blog this month comes from Sarah Howarth, mindfulness teacher and Ambassador for Living Proof. 

When we experience chronic pain and symptoms, it’s very natural to respond with fearful thinking. We often wake up consumed with thoughts about how our symptoms will be today – and how they will impact our lives. So much of our mental energy goes into trying to make sense of our symptoms and what causes them - and into seeking solutions. 

In his book, Unlearn Your Pain, Dr Howard Schubiner neatly summarises these thought patterns as falling within the ‘6 Fs’: fear, focus, frustration, figuring out, fixing and fighting. If the 6Fs resonate with you, I empathise strongly. The 6Fs dominated my thinking during my decade-long struggle with chronic bladder pain – and this is completely understandable, completely human. Chronic symptoms are a challenging experience – and we naturally want to bring an end to our suffering. 

The problem with fearful thought patterns  

The problem is, though, that responding to symptoms with fearful thinking and intense focus sends a powerful message to the brain: that something is terribly wrong. That we are in danger and need protection. Neuroscience explains that when the brain perceives danger, it can generate symptoms to alert us. Fear-based thinking can, therefore, fuel the fire of chronic symptoms. We can unintentionally prolong and intensify our pain. 

Once we understand the neuroscience, we see clearly that a radically different response is needed: we need to train our brain away from fearful thinking and focus on symptoms. 

Mindfulness and thought patterns

We can begin to retrain our brain by bringing mindfulness to our thoughts. During a mindfulness practice, when we notice the mind has wandered off into thought, we acknowledge this and then re-route our attention back to the breath or other focus.

Being mindful about our thinking patterns is not about self-judgement: try to avoid criticising yourself for very natural and normal thoughts. 

Instead you might consider your fearful thoughts as visitors – greet them with compassion but refrain from inviting the thoughts in to set up residence in your mind. Remember that the more often you think a thought, the more entrenched the neural circuit in the brain for that thought becomes. The brain will believe the messages it receives most often and so it’s important to be intentional about the thinking patterns and self-talk we cultivate.

Combining mindfulness with brain training 

Once we become aware that our thoughts have drifted towards fear and preoccupation with symptoms, we can begin to train the brain towards a more helpful focus. For example, you might re-route yourself to: 

1. Healthier thoughts backed by neuroscience 

Remember that thoughts, even our most repetitive ones, are not necessarily true.  We can challenge our thoughts with a reminder of an alternative, science-based perspective. For example, if you notice a fearful thought like “I’ll never be able to recover”, you might remind yourself that “this pain is caused by learnt neural circuits – and thanks to neuroplasticity, I can unlearn them”. 

This is not simply telling yourself to ‘think positively’. Negative thoughts and doubts will always arise: we are only human. But as Alan Gordon (LSCW), expert on pain reprocessing, advises, we don’t have to ‘buy into’ every negative thought; we can question and challenge it by considering other perspectives.

2. Your evidence list for neuroplasticity 

Once you have compiled a list of all the reasons your symptoms are likely neuroplastic*, this list is an excellent place to re-direct yourself to whenever fearful thinking creeps in. 

Evidence is powerful. It is reassuring. We can weaken and break down negative thought patterns when we dwell on counter-evidence. 

3. Your emotional landscape 

Try to catch yourself whenever you are ‘thinking physical’ (trying to figure out the physical causes of symptoms) – and engage in ‘thinking emotional’. This means exploring whether stress, emotions or other psychological processes might be signalling danger to your nervous system and what steps you might take to relieve some internal pressure. This helps to break the link in your mind between symptoms and physical causes. 

4. A safety mantra 

Many of us use safety messaging whenever we notice our thoughts becoming fearful. This is a message of reassurance used repeatedly to calm the brain and the nervous system. For example, I often used to say silently to myself, “I see you, pain. I know you are here to protect me because my brain senses danger. But actually I am safe.” 

5. Leaning into the body 

It’s so easy to get lost in the thinking mind, following thoughts down a rabbit warren of fear. We can interrupt this habit by dropping into the sensing body. We might tune into our senses and note sights, smells and sounds around us. We could feel the sturdy, reassuring support of the ground below us. Or we might focus on the sensations of the breath and use breathing patterns that promote relaxation such as an extended exhale. You can also shake, do a little dance – anything to interrupt your fearful thoughts. 

6. A pleasant or positive distraction

You can counteract negative thinking by directing yourself towards an activity or thought or sensation you find pleasant or engaging. For example, when I woke up thinking about my pain, I would deliberately lean into the pleasant feeling of my bedsheets against my skin. Or I might pick up a word puzzle. Or think through a fun interior-design project. These were some of my favourite distractions but find what works for you. Re-discover what brings you joy and ease and signals safety to your brain.

At first it may feel unnatural to seek out and dwell on pleasant and positive experiences as chronic symptoms can make us gravitate towards the negative. So, we have to be very intentional and practice this way of being until it becomes more habitual.    

Making mindfulness and brain-training work for you 

Whichever re-direction method you use, notice how it feels to shift away from fearful thinking towards a more hopeful perspective. Does it bring any sense of relief, ease, safety – even just a little? 

If not, that’s ok. Neuroplastic practices take time and patience. Consistency is key: stick with the process of catching and re-directing your thoughts. With repetition, consistency and a heap of self-compassion, overtime we can change our thinking patterns to support our recovery. 

(*If you haven’t yet created your own evidence list for neuroplasticity, you might like to check out this podcast by Betsy Jensen, Physiotherapist and Somatic Coach. Betsy explains what an ‘evidence file’ is – and how to create one for collating all the evidence for your symptoms being neuroplastic.)