What are Mind-Body Exercises?
Mind-body exercises differ from other forms of exercise by focusing on mental awareness, body movements, breathing patterns, and correct alignment. Familiar examples include yoga, tai chi, pilates, and qigong.
Both ancient wisdom and modern scientific research validate mind-body exercises as effective strategies for managing chronic pain.
How Does Mind-Body Exercise Reduce Pain Symptoms?
Mind-body exercises reduce pain through the following four mechanisms:
1. Promotes Healthy Movement and Healing of Scar Tissue
Mind-body exercises improve body awareness, helping you become more conscious of areas of muscle tension. This enables better relaxation of those areas, preventing pain from overuse and fatigue. These exercises also improve muscle stability, strength, and flexibility, reducing the risk of abnormal movement that can cause chronic pain. If an injury does occur, mind-body exercise can speed up the healing process by transforming scar tissue into healthy tissue.
2. Stops Release of Toxic Stress Hormones
When inflammation and oxidative stress are present, pain signals are transmitted with greater intensity. Toxic stress hormones can worsen chronic pain, while mind-body exercise helps suppress their release. Instead, these exercises promote the release of hormones that enhance natural pain relief and healing.
3. Counteracts Negative Emotion
Negative emotions like anxiety, frustration, and unhappiness amplify pain sensations. Mind-body exercises stimulate the release of healthy neurotransmitters that induce positive emotions and counteract pain amplification. Practitioners of mind-body exercise also experience increased blood flow and brain density in regions controlling awareness, attention, and emotion. This helps you focus on what serves you and gives you the emotional capacity to label experiences in ways that enrich your life.
4. Reduces Activation of “Fight or Flight”
Mind-body exercises decrease activation of the body’s intrinsic alarm system — the “fight or flight” response. While this response is meant for survival, it can promote inflammation, muscle tension, and oxidative stress when over-activated. Modern life tends to over-activate “fight or flight,” leading to chronic pain and injury. Mind-body exercises re-balance this system, decreasing the “fight or flight” response while stimulating the “rest and relaxation” pathways, reducing inflammation and stress.
Key Points: How Mind-Body Exercise Reduces Pain
- Promotes healthy movement and healing of scar tissue.
- Stops the release of toxic stress hormones.
- Counteracts negative emotions.
- Reduces activation of “fight or flight”.
Also check out 4 Must-Have Herbs & Spices for Chronic Pain, Top 3 Teas to Battle Chronic Pain, 5 Strategies to Eliminate Chronic Pain, 7 Must-Have Herbs & Spices for Musculoskeletal Health, & Yoga for Arthritis
