Good evening, everybody, and, welcome to tonight's session. We're probably, it's a, it's a strange one tonight, because we don't really, stop and meditate as we do a lot on this course. And that's kind of because we've got, so much that, that, that we need to cover.
And so welcome to people as they, they start to come in. And we're really gonna look at. Pacing today because if we're living with pain and we don't pace ourselves well.
And we adopt what we'll talk about later as a boom or bust mentality with our pain and with, the distress and with the way that our brain works with us. Then, it almost gets us trapped. So, a lot of what we're looking at tonight, but there's some very, I was looking at it actually, guys, and I was thinking, although this is a pain session.
This whole sort of . Issue of pacing, maybe even for people like Dawn from the webinar there just to sometimes to stop and think about, you know, do I pace. Myself when I'm at work, because it tends to be at work that professionals such as vets, doctors, in professions such as Dawn with the webinar vet, you know, these really busy high-end organisations.
Whether you're struggling with pain or not, learning to pace could be hugely valuable for people, because, you know, if we don't pace, that's where burnout starts to show up, and that's where, our cognitive decline starts, because we're too tired and we don't think well. So tonight might be a, a very interesting session on a number of different levels. So, once again, it is always nice to be there.
I I do really enjoy this, this working with pain stuff. Especially from this mindful acceptance stance, because nothing else works. There you go.
Nothing else, I really believe this. Nothing else works to help human beings manage their pain better than a mindful acceptance stance combined with. A bit of luck here that the medication or the analgesia that you're able to take.
In partnership with this mindful acceptance stance, works for you. So You all know me well enough now. This is our 5th week together, which seems hardly conceivable to me.
It's shot past and so much has happened across the world, so much has happened. For, for us all, I think it feels like a very tumultuous, slightly scary time. And, on that note, you know, we do know that that link that our brain has with fear and anxiety and stress.
There was a really great article by an organisation called Curable, and Curable are a fantastic pain organisation that, offer. 1 to 1 and group support for people living with pain. And they put out this really interesting article this week, which was looking at just the.
Complete link with stress. And how stress alone can be a great exacerbator of the pain that so many people struggle with. So, I really thought that was interesting, and it linked across because, you know, for so much of my career I've worked with, depression, anxiety and trauma mainly, and stress sits within all of those.
And of course, depression, anxiety, and trauma are at the very sort of seed bed of, chronic pain very often as well. So That slide, the last one, really does encourage us to think about, you know, if we ever get to that point where we're in a place of struggle, use what's there for you, you know? Use what's there, and you have that life.
And I just think that, what a blessing that is, that an organisation like yours has actually recognised that, Working in your profession is stressful. Working in your profession can be very, very sad, and working in a profession like the veterinary profession can lead people to quite dark places as we've begun to see over the last few years. And when pain is added into the mix, it's almost like distress soup, isn't it, putting all that stuff together with those ingredients.
And if we're gonna really make a difference on a course like the one we're on together tonight. As I'm sure you guys would say to the owners, to the farmers, to the people that you work with, when you prescribe, you know, you really do need. You know, to make sure that the animal that you're looking after, does these exercises, carries out these steps that you feed it this way, that you encourage it to behave in this way.
And I guess it's the same with humans that, real change, lasting change, only really comes about when we mix that sense of, yep, I wanna make this happen with a degree of pragmatic commitment. And that's where the home tasks come in. And.
I know a lot of you really liked bold, that take a breath, move into the observing self, lean in, and what bold, and then make a decision. And what bold did, do you remember, was it gave us a real opportunity to do mindful check-ins throughout our day, because as you'll see today, if we're being driven. Into a boom or bust mentality, and we're not ever stopping and mindfully checking in with ourselves.
That's precisely when that. Inability to pace well leads us into increased problems with pain. A lot of you seem to be doing really well, particularly with the somatic tracking, and I'm sure some of you are becoming real aficionados of body scanning.
And do you remember week one, I think it was, I showed you the slide, which showed that there's an evidence base for managing pain using body scanning, and Just this week there was an American study came out again which managed to replicate that and took it one step further, really, suggesting that, for some people what works better is to do short punchy body scans throughout the day. And I think that made some sense as I read it. And what I would suggest is that there's a growing evidence base for short, mindful practises, literally 34 minutes at a time.
And if that would work better for you guys in your profession, then maybe that's something to think about. Oh Trigger happy fingers tonight, I'm afraid, . This, this, this bullet here is, I suppose, what the whole of my course has been about, which is, if we get to that point where.
We are back in touch with the stuff of life that really matters and that we're meeting our pain and the pain that we struggle with from a mindful acceptance stance. And I've got to add in there with a healthy dose of self compassion. Then it does allow us to start to refocus our lives back onto .
What really matters and that may well include work, home, family, friends, happiness, fitness, health. And it's so easy when we're living with pain, to find ourselves redirected away from the very stuff that matters. You know that right at the start, I think even week 2, it was week 2, we began to look at the incredibly important link with sleep and pain.
And in the study I was talking to you about earlier, the article earlier from Curable, and they were talking about stress and the link with stress and And difficulties with pain management if we are too stressed. And actually you. Could be forgiven for thinking they'd sort of rehashed an old sleep talk because the two are so enmeshed, you know, that a stressed person who's struggling with too much stress and an inability to switch off usually struggles to sleep and a person that sleeps.
Poorly struggles with their pain, and when they struggle with their pain, their stress gets worse. So we are looking at this bidirectional sort of phenomenon there and sometimes what we need to do is step in and make change to one area that we can really change, and very often, you know, where pain is concerned. There's huge dividends to be gained from working with that.
So my hope is that alongside the work we did last week, and we're doing more of this this week. Seeing thoughts as thoughts, managing emotion, harnessing our minds so that we're the boss, we're driving this bus of life, taking the pain along for the ride. Becomes a crucial bit, so I always slide that slide up, just once I remember someone saying to you, Mike, do you put that slide up when you do these webinars to make us feel guilty.
And I, I remember just being quite shocked, saying, no, you know, you don't, you don't enter your, 60th year as a human being. You don't enter your 30th year as a mental health professional, wanting anybody ever to feel guilt or shame at something they haven't done. Good God, no.
This slide is not there to make anybody look at it and go, oh, this slide is there. Hopefully so that you guys look at it and you go, do you know what? I was so busy this week that I lost track of the need to do some of this stuff, and next week I'm back on and I'm gonna be doing it.
That's the only reason I remind people of. The importance of commitment where pain is concerned. The role of catastrophising styles of thinking and the link with pacing.
Because. At the end of the day. Catastrophic thinking.
It's just thinking You know, it's It, it's something that we do, we, we find ourselves getting caught up in, and if we get caught up in catastrophic. Sorts of thoughts. Then On a course like this, the emphasis has to be well.
Be mindful of the fact that you've slid into a catastrophising stance and respond to that with wisdom. And the next slide takes us really through a few strategies that I've, I'm really hoping. That you guys will find useful.
This is the first time on a paying course. I've ever used this slide. It's a new slide and It came from a blog on pain that I'm part of that I contribute to.
And. It made so much sense to me that I thought, no, I'm including that in the webinar vet course this Tuesday, so this is new. I'm quickly scanning it because it's bound to have spelling issues in it because it's new and Mrs.
Scanlon hasn't had a chance to. She's a teacher, you see, and I usually shower to make sure that. That looks all right.
So This is an interesting conundrum, which is that sometimes. We're doing really well, you know, we're behaving kindly mindfully towards ourselves. We're managing our pain pretty well.
And then perhaps family or sometimes our colleagues. People that care for us. Well, they inadvertently trigger this pain.
Catastrophising way of thinking. And when they do this. Very often, they do it from a really good kind place, but very often the outcome is it makes us catastrophise, and an example of that is that .
You know, we're going off to work that morning and someone we love sees us sort of wince as we pick up our bag, and they stop and they say, oh God, please, please, please, you know, please remember that you struggle with pain and it's so, so important today that, you know, you, you, you, you are careful of yourself. And of course they mean well, but inadvertently what they're doing is they're reminding us that. We are frailer, more susceptible to pain than we would want to believe.
And if we don't, mindfully appraise that, and if we don't realise that that part of our brain responsible for threat has just been switched up to, you know, the highest level. Purely because someone we care about expressed their fears for us because of the need for us to live well with pain and sometimes. That alone can get us into a.
Catastrophising frame of mind and once we start with that catastrophising frame of mind. If we're not careful, we can become experientially avoidant. We can tense up.
We can go into work rigid with fear because it's been instilled with somebody by somebody close to us. So. Pain catastrophising thoughts sometimes are engendered, are sparked by the very people that Mean well for us, you know.
Another thing that can happen. With paying catastrophization. Is that we learn, you know, I, I think back to, a couple of years ago when I broke my neck and back and stuff like that in a, in a cycling accident.
And, oh, you know, we sometimes that we, we sort of chuckle about this and say, you know, so and so was really milking it today is the phrase we might use. And I knew with my daughters that if I, expressed how much pain I was in at that point. Well, they would begin to catastrophise, and Dad, you've got to be careful, you really gotta look after yourself.
And actually sometimes we receive that as human beings. As love and it's lovely to be loved, and so. If we get into a habit of.
Catastrophising out loud in front of the people that love us and we get rewarded with. A loving Kind, caring response. Well, that in itself is a little bit moreish.
And so we get stuck with this catastrophising habit. Similarly, . And very differently.
If that's possible, I think it is. Repetitive negative thinking can also get us stuck in, this very passive and abstract catastrophising. So it's almost like that quiet.
Non-mindful little voice that . Accompanies us through our day and sometimes the sort of thoughts that that, little voice sort of sends us are very similar to the one on the bottom of my slide there, where our catastrophising protector within. Can In a sort of double loop way is a good way of thinking about this.
It can urge us to act in a certain way because. We begin to get a bit panicky that. If we're seen or perceived, perhaps would be a better way to put this.
If we're perceived to be slacking because of our pain, we then catastrophize internally that, oh my God, people will think this of me, they'll think that of me. They'll be thinking I should have gone part time. People will think, .
You, you know, this person slows us down, this person brings work, most of which won't be true because remember they're just thoughts. Brain spam, do you remember the brain spam? It's just products of our mind, but if we're not careful, that protector within part of our brain that elevates our pain experience and makes it so much worse.
That part of our brain can similarly gang up on us and have us believing that because we struggle a bit with pain, everyone now thinks we're useless. You know, and if we fall into any of that really, really difficult style of thinking, then boy does that damage our psyche. Boy does that start to erode our happiness and our well-being.
And although this is a pain cause, it's a pain cause aimed at helping people struggle with pain, lead more happy. Meaningful lives, so this is important stuff, really, really important stuff. And I wonder if you look at that slide, my new slide today, whether.
You recognise in yourselves at all that as part of your pain journey, your pain experience. That from time to time, your tendency to think catastrophically. Either leads you to.
Be less mindful of the need to pace. Or sometimes drives you so that instead of pacing. In some sort of vain attempt to prove, look, I'm as strong and as able as I ever was, I, I just live with pain.
I wonder if anybody else out there is recognising themselves. Within this. And if you are Because, as I say that.
It's this slide really that. Maybe transcends pain. For the veterinary profession.
Because, you know, you guys are competitive. It's, it's, it's part of your psyche, I believe. And you are also your very, very worst very often, inner critics, and you allow your critical voice to drive you very often rather than your kind voice.
And these, musings I'm sharing with you now come from the. Plethora of vets and vet nurses and people working within the veterinary profession that I've seen for 1 to 1 therapy, thanks really to my link with the webinar vet over the last 5 or 6 years. And I feel pretty comfortable and confident.
Saying that you guys are, by dint of what you do, too flipping hard on yourselves. And When you live with pain. That exacerbates everything.
Important slide, wasn't it? Perhaps more important though. Is what we do When That protector within.
Starts to push us around. And what we perhaps need to do is appreciate what our protector in mind is trying to do. And what we need to do is find a workable way forward.
So Maybe Just maybe tomorrow the next day. Sometime soon you will suddenly realise that your mind has started to churn out some really Unpleasant catastrophic thinking. Your career's gonna end.
People are gonna realise you're not able to do your job as well as you used to. You won't be able to stand the pain. The pain is only going to get worse.
And sometimes Most of what our brain sends us, remember, from last session. A huge chunk of it, especially if it's negative, repetitive, and aimed at scaring us, then, a huge chunk of that is, is, is going to be inaccurate. You know, just Just that hugely, hugely inaccurate, exaggerated and.
Largely unworkable to connect with, cos it doesn't help us in any way. And maybe If you learn to respond. To your overcritical.
Catastrophising mind by doing something completely, look at this slide, it's completely counterintuitive, isn't it? Which is why I, I think it's, I love this stuff, it's so fascinating. Because it works, but it almost shouldn't work.
Because it's so counterintuitive. So when our mind sends us a thought that says to us, you know, if the pain gets any worse, your career is over, mate. And in that moment, instead of you know, getting down and dirty with the thought and wrestling with it.
Which never works, and you know, both of you get exhausted, tired and a bit grubby. You know, what works so much better, step away from that thought. And Actually, actually, actually not, just Mike's saying this, really, really thank your mind, thank your mind for the thought.
Really? And, and, and qualify it. Mind, thank you so much for sending that catastrophic thought that my, my, my career is over.
Do you know, I get it, I get it. Thank you for sending me that because I know. Where that thought comes from.
And I know Where that thought was bubbled up and engendered. It comes from a place of wanting to keep me safe. Now, When we answer our mind back.
You'll see a bit later on. Sometimes we, we actually need to, . Say it out loud.
You know, and if you're, if there's nobody about. To be honest, even if there is somebody about, it's even more powerful because. I'll explain, so, but saying this stuff out aloud.
You know, having a chat with your mind as we do with the somatic tracking perhaps. Thanks for that thought, really, no, thank you. Genuinely thank you for that because I know.
That this thought has come from a place in my brain that is desperate to look after me and keep me safe, so thank you. This doesn't work, this stance, this diffusion approach, this turn it on its head response to pain and the thoughts that accompany pain does not work if you speak to your mind dismissively or with sarcasm. All that happens is that your brain continues right on with what I call catastrophic, catastrophic problem solving, you know, because the mind doesn't believe you.
Because the tone of voice in which you said thank you for was sarcastic or dismissive. When we thank our mind, we need to connect with the science of this stuff, the neurology of this stuff. We need to connect with the truth that this is just our brain desperately trying to look after us.
And when someone tries to look after us and they put that much time and effort into it as our brain does with us. Well, I think it probably deserves genuine. Smile of thank you.
And maybe Thank you so much for the message, thank you so much for the thought because it comes from a great place. And you know what? I, I'll choose the way I respond to that thought, but thank you.
So I've bolded this cos I think it's so important. Be sincere. With that part of your brain, you know, your brain is nuanced, it will be on to you at a second if you're .
Counterintuitive response to a horrible catastrophic pain thought is glib, it won't work. Sometimes you might want to add, thanks for the thought. Honestly, I get it.
Thank you so much for sending that thought, because I know where it comes from. Knowledge is power with this stuff. Labelling it, your brain realises then, almost my God, he's on to me, you know, he knows what's going on here.
I'm not kidding anybody. As I send this thought, I'm sending this thought accompanied by that emotion of fear because I want him to retire early. I want him to believe that catastrophic thought.
I want him to curl up in a corner somewhere being safe. We're on to you. And we add Perhaps I really get, you know, that you're trying to be helpful here.
So thank you so much, but I'll tell you what, I'm the driver of this bus and I've got it covered. And I will retire when I want to retire when the time is right. I will stop doing that particular veterinary activity.
When I choose to stop, I'm not being driven by my fair brain. Even though my fear brain is doing everything it can to protect me, I get it. And ideally sometimes.
Saying it out loud if you're alone. Or perhaps internally if you're with others, and I'll come to that again now. Why I question that is because more recently, and there is no evidence base for this, it's just something I've been getting my clients to do for the last couple of years, is when they use a thought diffusion stance like this, and they actually say out loud.
Do you know what thought thanks a million for that. I know That you're just trying to look after me, I, I, I know where this thought comes from. It comes from my protector within.
And I say to my clients now. If it works, saying it out loud, and it tends to. And you're currently.
Choosing not to say it out loud when you're with others. Try it, see what happens. Be judicious and wise about who you have this self talk in front of.
And sometimes this is what happens. The person you're with hears you say. Thank you mind.
I get it. You know, you are my protector within and you're just trying to help me here. And then the person you're with says, who are you talking to then and you smile at them and you say, well, I tell you what I was talking to.
I was talking to that part of my brain. That tries to bully me. And I was informing it.
That, I know it comes from a good place. But I'm the boss of me. And do you know what, when people we love get that explanation.
And they understand it. That's powerful on its own as well, so be careful of having that. Interesting in a dialogue out loud in front of some people, but when you're with people that trust.
You trust and who love you and you love them or colleagues that are curious non-judgmental human beings. Invite them into the party. Teach them because everybody needs to learn.
To recognise that thoughts are hugely inaccurate, especially when they're driven by stress, pain, fear, or sadness. Truth. When you do this stuff, don't be surprised if your mind does give you a bit of a push back, you know.
And if it does, straight back at it. Yep, thanks for that, you know, . Yeah, I, I've told you before, I know you're just trying to help here.
And this Section of tonight's session. It's so, so important when it comes to pacing. Because if we don't have a wise step away stance towards the thoughts that drive us.
We do find ourselves living lives of boom or bust. So what we've covered on this slide. And what we looked at here.
Are there precursors very often. To the individual that finds themselves buying into a daft belief like, Oh, do you know what, my pain's a bit easier today, so I will run 5 miles. I will get into work early.
I will clean my, my room feverishly because today I've got this pass. I've got the time and I'm not in that much pain, so I'll make sure that I use today to be on top of everything. Now that is not pacing, that's being driven by your catastrophic mind.
Usually. So here you go, question for you guys. In your profession, in your lies, do you ever find yourself being pushed?
By your mind, probably to do lots of physical activities or jobs or social duties. As I just shared then when you're having a good day. And then Do you reap the painful rewards of that later?
Because You've Chosen to overdo it because the pain is quieter. Allison. Says .
I won't do full names on this one, but Alison shares this sounds completely like me. I need to practise pacing rather than telling myself off. Alison, if you don't mind, I'd be even I'd be even more, I, I think I would be even stricter, strict, I don't know if that's the right word.
I think I would say this sounds exactly like me. I need to learn to be super super kind to myself and start pacing and learn that telling myself off never ever works. You know, and because of that, people usually find themselves repeating the pain cycle over and over because we fall into this, this trap.
Do you know, not that long ago I was sitting in my NHS job. Listening. Sophie, this is me too, bullet a gate.
It was you, Sophie. It changes tonight, doesn't it? And I was sitting with a GP.
I sometimes do some supervision of some GPs and I was sitting in with this GP and this patient came in, talking about, with, with fibromyalgia, struggling with real chronic pain, and she was saying how depressed she was, and, the GP said, look. Whatever you do, make sure that on the days when the fibromyalgia isn't so bad, when the pain is a bit easier, on those days, make sure you see your kids, make sure you get out there, make sure you go for a run, make, and I was looking at her and my jaw must have dropped, and when the client went out, she said. What's wrong, Mike, and I said, well, you know.
GPs never like to be told that, that they, they, nobody does, I suppose, but GPs really don't like to be told that they've, they've got it wrong. And so in a real kind of subtle way, I said, you know, that was exactly the, I said I'm not sure it was subtle. That was exactly the wrong message, I think you gave that woman then.
And she went, why? She's depressed, she's got to take everyone. I said, no, no, no, no, no.
Short term mind, it might help. Long term, that would just make her more depressed. It was a really interesting consultation.
To her credit, the GP was wonderful, lovely, and very professional and got it. But I think that that's a mistake we make. I like this from Gregg.
Just take a deep breath and forget everything except the one thing you need to do in front of you and just concentrate on that. Everything else is superfluous at that time. Mindfulness, eh, Gregg?
Mindfulness in action. In the long term What happens with this inability to pace is. We find ourselves in this place.
You know, this, this just, I don't think I need to. Talk too much on this one because I think it says it all, doesn't it? And My guess might also be that.
Sophie And others That responded tonight. This is probably what, what, what. What occurs And The Answer, Good God, this man's bringing answers tonight.
The answer is this. OK, and this is so, so important that we get this right. We have to start to learn if we live with pain, to become planners.
You know, we need to. No longer fall into the trap of doing what we feel. As I said, it is often enhanced by health professionals.
We know anybody who's lived with persistent pain learns that that motto of do what you feel. Really doesn't work, . We, we, we, we, we have to plan.
I also find, says Allison, my mood becomes low. When I need the rest periods, after a after a boom period, absolutely. I wonder, Alison, if that's because you tell yourself off.
You know, you, you that that catastrophic voice starts to. Kick in and tell you how ridiculous and how silly you are and how. How you should know better.
And, and, and I think sometimes recognising. Stepping away and asking a different diffusion question which is, is beating myself up working for me. Short term, no, long term, 100% not.
Once we have sat down and drawn up something of a plan. For How we can get through the next week. Then I think we move into prioritise and because of the nature of this course, Rebecca, I've got to share this.
I've been seriously working at pacing for the past, for the last 4 to 5 years, and although I still boom or bust at times, I'm definitely getting better at it. And now my, her friends and relatives are understanding, and that helps because, oh, look at this is classic, Rebecca, classic of good humans, you know. I used to try to please them by doing too much and hiding my pain, and I realised that that just doesn't work.
I love this work word that we're using tonight, because we're buying into this concept of workability. And workability is when what we do, the way we live our lives, works for us in the short term and the long term. And that's workability.
I think if we're going to plan. And think about how we want to live our lives. Wisely with .
Interruptive difficult pain. Is prioritise by linking what we do to make sure that what we do is linked to the stuff that actually matters. And that's mindfulness as well, isn't it, because so many people that I work with who struggle with chronic pain, and they'll say, oh, Mike, I don't know what I was doing, you know, I spent all yesterday clearing out the loft.
I say, OK, and I'm in such pain today. Why was the loft important to you? Is bored.
But why was the loft important to you? Having a tidy loft, why, why, why did that matter? Well, it's a real state up there, who sees it?
Well, nobody cause it's my loft, . Why is it important? Well, it isn't.
So why did you spend all that time? Cleaning it. You know, did, did that take you towards the human being you wanna be?
Yeah, Greg says everyone needs to pace whether they're in pain or not. You're right. Do you know at the start of my session tonight, I said, this, this session is almost like a ubiquitous session for for people in your profession who definitely push themselves too hard.
And if we're planning. And if we're prioritising from a wise. Values led place we can then Learn to pace, you know, and.
I'm gonna suggest, and I, I honestly don't expect that many of you will actually do this, but. When I run my paying course. For opioid withdrawal.
Which is a course I run pretty much now. I told you didn't I? 345 times a year.
It's gonna be a lot more next year already because. Of a recent paper talking about the link with opioid use and, and, and suicide in the general population. So this course, I'm expecting to be commissioned even more and more.
I'm gonna need to pace myself with that as well, aren't I? But, as we move towards this, this next exercise on that course, the people that do it find this to be absolutely revelatory. And its spoons.
And it, it's a very simple. Exercise, and don't use great big flipping spoons like that. But spoons is a way of.
Teaching, instructing. Helping your mind to learn. That if you aren't mindful.
And compassionate and kind. If you don't pace. Plan and prioritise.
Then You run out of gas. And when you run out of gas and you push yourself then. That's when we so often.
End up damaging ourselves. So very simply what we do with this is I think I might have the next slide tells us. No I don't like that slide.
Essentially what we do is we take 12 teaspoons. Spoons are good. They're quite nice things and you stick them in your right pocket.
Or you stick them in your handbag or you stick them somewhere. Where they, where, where, where you can sort of feel them on your person, I suppose, pockets are best. And you put those 12 spoons in your pocket, and you say to yourself, I'm only gonna do this for 3 days this week.
And I'm doing this from the spirit of a behavioural experiment to see. What happens? Curious scientist time here guys.
Go on, someone do it tomorrow, I'd love it. And, and it's such a brilliant exercise and you put your 12 spoons in that right hand pocket and you say to yourself, OK. Now, Every time I expend.
What I judge to be significant energy be that physical, cerebral, emotional. I will move. One of those spoons from my right pocket.
To my left pocket. And I will pledge that my goal for the day is to finish work. And to be getting to about 8 o'clock at night with at least 1 spoon left so I can expend a bit of energy telling the person that I'm closest to how much I love them.
There you go. Cause that that that that's worth expending energy on, I guess. And this is what tends to happen is we start the day with great intentions 12 spoons in that right hand pocket.
And by this is vets. I'm, I'm talking about here, vets and GPs and other professionals like this. By about.
Coffee time. You realise that of the 12 spoons you've used 6 and you go oh flip an egg. I'm, I'm gonna have to really pace myself here or I'm gonna be.
And then by lunchtime. You've only got 2 spoons left and you've got a whole surgery in front of you, and you've got your kids to pick up from school and you've got, that webinar that you need to do for your CPD learning. And you suddenly realise.
I can't do it because I've used up. My allocated My allocated bullets of energy that I, I've given myself. So we do what we do as human beings every time.
We bargain with ourselves and we say, I'll tell you what. I'll take 3 from tomorrow's spoons. And that will leave me with 9 spoons tomorrow, so I'll just be a bit more careful tomorrow.
Tomorrow comes and you start with 9 spoons. By break time they're all gone. And you make another little deal with yourself and you say, well, I'll borrow 4 just to get me through the afternoon.
And then tomorrow that means I'll start with, I can't do maths guys, 5-ish, something like that. So tomorrow I'll start with far less spoons. You see where we're going with this stuff, it.
It just teaches us the value. Of stopping, finding that space between stimulus and response before we launch into activity, before we launch into stuff. If we live with chronic pain, we've got to learn to pace.
And It works, and nothing works like spoons because it works viscerally. You know, It really works viscerally. Greg shared here, the philosophy of slow cooking and having a long lunch seems to be about pacing, relax and enjoy the experience as a lot of Europeans tend to.
Yeah, I think we could learn from other cultures here, because I think we, we are in a very boom bust culture where we do drive ourselves. We work longer hours in this country than just about anywhere else in the world, don't we? And we, personally, I think it all comes down to mindfulness of kindness to self, really.
And so Essentially what we're doing is we're moving to a point in our lives on this course that we're all on together today. Where, because we're stopping. And we're recognising the importance of stopping and.
Making choices That We learn to stop and recognise that broadly speaking. As human beings when we. Actually stop and we reach a choice point.
Do you remember the somatic tracking we did last week, where we included that sense of the choice point, where we are mindful enough to realise that. Oh my gosh, I'm at another choice point here. I could perhaps stop and take a break and have a cup of tea and relax, or I could quickly run up and see the practise manager and, just check in with some of those figures that really, really need doing.
And we stop And we actually stop and we quietly say to ourselves, a lot of self-talk today, isn't there? Today I hit a choice point. At this moment I'm at a choice point.
The me I want to be. Do they like me enough to stop and take a rest and. Relax and look after myself.
Or does the me I want to be charged upstairs and Choose not to take a break. And I, and I think where we're getting to on this course is recognising that where pacing is concerned. Where pain is concerned.
Where mindfulness is concerned where This newer slower. Stance where we like ourselves enough to recognise that. Do you know what kindness wins every day of the week where we're living with chronic pain, and we actually start to live our lives, making more towards moves.
That take us towards a human being, we want to do, then we do those mindless away moves. That may feel like they need doing, but do they really? And so Next week, unbelievably it seems to me, is our final week.
And I think it's time just to remind ourselves that, you know, you've worked really hard so far, we've covered a lot. But Remind yourselves that. When you have lived with pain for a long time.
By dint of living with pain we become less active. The less We move, the less we use our muscles, and muscles and joints were built for using. They like to be active and moving and to get them back active and moving.
From a long term perspective we have to pace. So Keep meditating. Body scanning.
Tracking meditation of any sort, it helps. In this next week. See if you can find the choice points.
And start having that quiet. Loving Chat herself. Start creating a new relationship with your protector within.
Where you remind your protector within that you're the boss, but also that you do get that that protector within is is is doing its very best for you. Keep working on your sleep hygiene. Sleep is huge where pain is concerned.
And this week. Ideally have a go at spoons. But above all Experiment, play with, think about planning, prioritising.
And pacing Important stuff, isn't it? I hope you'll have a lovely night. I don't know about you guys.
I'm, I'm I, I realised that with all of this stuff happening in Ukraine that listen to the language here, I have been finding myself almost. Just listening to report after report after report. And I'm trying to listen to just one news a day.
And to take it in and to listen to it and to Always think about the compassionate stance which is God, I feel dreadful for this and what can I do. And That seems to work, but do look after yourselves because it is. It's a very uncomfortable time at the moment for so many people and very important that we, we also look after self.
If anybody has any questions, any thoughts. We can share them now or if you ever have anything you'd like me to consider or think about. Or a question you'd like to ask, please do just send them via the Wonderful Dawn and others at the webinar there, because they always get them to me.
And thank you so much for being with me tonight. I enjoyed tonight's session, it's really important stuff, isn't it? And good night.