Joy Schultz: Certified Facilitator
 of The Work of Byron Katie
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"It hurts. The pain is back."

8/9/2013

4 Comments

 
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I have been so blessed to do The Work with people with "chronic, serious, physical conditions" which they have experienced since childhood. One evening a woman called who was experiencing a lot of physical pain. She has had multiple sclerosis her whole life with at least 50 "serious" attacks, 2 of which took her several months to recuperate. We worked the thought "my body hurts".

Another man who had been suffering severe bouts pain in his legs since childhood worked the thought "The pain is back again."

Is it true? 
Many of us may not/would not even consider "pain" as questionable--and might even be angry at anyone that would suggest it is so. We see it as a physical fact, and do not recognize it is a thought.

I once heard Katie say that those who are in the greatest pain, seem to be the ones who can have the deepest most profound realizations. They have constant and huge motivation.

"My body hurts."
Is it true?
How could this possibly not be true?
I direct my attention to the "place" I believe I am sensing "pain".
I just did this as I was typing this.
I had a painful spot in my upper back.

What I am going to tell you now, 
you may want to reject and gloss over....
but my experience was 
that when I did this simple thing
the pain literally vanished.

I had the same experience after doing the work with the woman mentioned above. It was after 11 pm when I got off the phone with her. I had the signs I have had many times before that I was getting a migraine.
How do you react when you believe the thought "my body hurts" or "the pain is back again"?

I head straight for the Excedrine.
I see images of the past of me having a terrible headache and nausea and having to cancel my classes. I project it will last several days. I hate it. I feel helpless. I am depressed. I imagine the pain. I try to avoid it. I think I've got to head it off/prevent it. I am very fearful it will go on. There's definitely "something wrong with me".

4. Who would you be without the thought "it hurts"?

Normally I would have headed straight for the Excedrine. 
After doing the work with this woman I was so ready to "test it" (Katie always says...don't believe me...test it yourself)  So ...I took no Excedrine or any medicince. I got into bed and as soon as I started to feel the sensation in my head start,  I gave my attention directly to it without labeling it as pain. Just curious. Asking it: What are you without the thought/label of pain, and just noticing the sensation without trying to relabel it or attack it or change it or wishing it would go away. In other words I gave it attention without judging it as bad or resisting it .

And it simply vanished.

I repeated this throughout the night every time the sensation came to my awareness again. And every time it vanished. In the morning--no headache. End of story.

In the past, even with medication, headache still there. For days...with even more medicine, even with ice on my head. And me telling myself I have a migraine. This hurts. 

The woman above observed that when she rides her bike there is no pain.
The  man above noticed that while watching a tv documentary the pain simply did not exist.
"The pain was back again" just before he watched.

With the thought "the pain is back again", 
he felt defeated. 
He believed "I can't do anything to get rid of it.
I want to get out of the pain.
There is no end in sight.
I am not going to enjoy tonight.
I'm cursed.
He blamed himself..."if only I had taken better care of me..."
He felt alone and scared.
He noticed that he terrified himself.
He dwelled on the pain.

Without the thought, "the pain is back again"...
(it's hard to describe the experience I shared with him)
He was really kind of speechless.
Something so new happened.

He could no longer understand what "pain" was...

It was a "wow" space...

like truly seeing/wondering...well, what is "pain" if it just vanishes like that?

It simply doesn't exist when I am watching this documentary.
There is no thought of it.
It doesn't exist when I am sleeping.

It's simply gone.
Did it ever really exist...?

This is a man who has "suffered" from "pain" all his life up until this moment...

With the thought...terror...past images...proof of childhood pain and mother massaging his legs.

Without the thought...completely pain free

He said something like, "I have never experienced this before"...and there was a lot of silence as he really experienced his mind being blown...

the story 
of pain...
busted

4 Comments
Marty
8/9/2013 02:19:15 pm

Wow. Will try that on my TMJ pain which I've been convinced all day will need surgical repair. Thanks.

Reply
Gail
3/19/2015 07:11:49 am

I had heard about Byron Katie years ago but did nothing. I was RE-introduced 3 days ago. Now I am doing The Work! It is Perfect and so is this Post!
I am questioning ‘tooth pain and the pain is back’. I was using ‘my tooth hurts’ and intuitively part way through the inquiry, was guided to use ‘the tooth hurts’. This Immediately lifted the identity off it; Plus the victim / blame association lifted too!
I also notice when I am Joyfully focused elsewhere, I have Zero pain, no tooth at all. When I did Q #3 the phrase ‘don’t bother me’ came through with images as a child and a parent. Living by myself now, I see I am projecting this energy towards the body. Hungry, sleepy, need the bathroom – too bad – I want to do ‘this’, I have no time for you.
Looking at Q #4 now, I like your example: ‘I give it attention’ and I noticed your shift to ‘Asking it’, that is huge for me. Curious and DeLIGHTed I will continue.
Must appreciation and Peace.

Reply
joy schultz link
3/19/2015 10:08:30 am

Thank you so much for sharing, Gail. It's powerful to share our experiences as we witness a completely new world without our belief. So glad you are noticing how powerful our thinking is and freeing yourself from pain.

Reply
Seth link
1/2/2021 04:14:08 am

Thaanks for writing

Reply



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    Joy Schultz

     I love sitting in the questions, and seeing what arises. Writing it down slows my mind...
    and helps me "receive" it.

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