Let’s practice somatic tracking today.
I will demonstrate how you can do this mind-body exercise.
At the end of this video, I’ll tell you the explanation why this type of exercise
works for people with chronic pain, especially for people who have nociplastic pain, central
sensitization or chronic primary pain.
So, let’s start.
You can do this in any position.
Sit comfortably or lie down.
You can even do this while moving your body.
It is okay to leave your eyes open.
But if you prefer, you can close your eyes.
Now, I want you to notice your sensations.
If there is a sensation that you describe as pain, I want you to watch this sensation
as an observer.
Imagine you are outside of your body.
Notice the sensation with curiosity.
Like if you were looking at a painting, looking at the clouds in the ski, or watching fireworks.
How would you describe this sensation?
Is it dull, hot, sharp, squeezing?
Is it pulsing?
Is it changing?
You don’t need to pay attention to every detail with precision.
You don’t need to give an accurate description.
Like watching the clouds in the ski, you may use your imagination to describe this sensation.
Now, it is important to remember that you are safe, that this is just a sensation.
You are not in danger.
If your doctor told you that you have a primary chronic pain, that this pain is coming from
a sensitized pain system, that you have muscle tension, then what you are feeling is a sensation,
but it is not a sign of anything dangerous going on in your body.
There is nothing broken or damaged or misaligned.
Now, I want you to notice the size of this sensation, if this sensation is taking a large
part of your body, or a small area?
Is it changing size, shrinking or spreading?
Is it increasing?
Decreasing?
Notice where this is in your body.
Notice with curiosity.
Do not overthink.
Do not analyze or explain the pain.
Just notice it.
If you start getting anxious, or the pain is increasing, I want you to shift your focus
to your breath.
Notice your breath, the air entering your nose, filling your chest.
Is it warm?
Smooth?
It is just a sensation.
A neutral sensation.
Breathing is not harmful, is not dangerous.
You don’t need to be fearful of breathing.
It is just a sensation like any other sensation.
Check in with your pain sensation.
You don’t need to try to eliminate any sensation.
You need just to feel it and realize it is safe, you are safe, you are not in danger.
Like looking at the clouds, just notice them, describe what you see without judging as good
or bad.
Looking at the clouds is a neutral visual sensation.
Now, just notice your body sensations, describe them without judging them, they are not good
or bad.
They are just sensations.
They are neutral.
Your brain is misinterpreting sensations from your body as dangerous.
Breath slowly.
Remind yourself that there is no harm in your body.
Do you notice if the sensation moves from one part of your body to another?
Or does it change size?
Decreasing or increasing?
It doesn’t matter how this pain sensation behaves because you know it is not dangerous.
You have been given green light to move this body part, you are not damaging this part
if you use it.
Actually, it is the opposite, if you don’t move it, you will get worse because your muscles
are becoming tight and you are not lubricating your joints.
Remember, motion is lotion.
Your brain has been trained to think this sensation is dangerous.
And how does it communicate it is dangerous?
By creating pain.
But now you know, there is no danger there.
You have been reassured that your body is okay.
You are safe.
You are not broken or damaged.
If you had your eyes closed, you can open them now.
That is it!
Easy, quick and you can do anywhere.
Now, let me explain to you what was happening in your body when you were doing this somatic
tracking exercise.
Before I continue, let me remind you that this video is not medical advice.
You need to get a diagnosis from your doctor or therapist.
If you have any emergency go to the nearest emergency department or call an ambulance.
This video is for educational purposes only.
First, you are retraining your brain.
You are creating new synapses in your pain system.
This is called neuroplasticity.
The same way that the pain synapses were created, you can undo them, by doing this exercise
of somatic tracking.
Second reason.
Did you know that there are 3 components of somatic tracking?
The first one is mindfulness.
You need to pay attention to what is happening at the moment without judging it.
The main keyword is “curiosity”.
Observe, notice, look around.
The second component is safety reappraisal.
Which means to reappraise the situation by sending messages of safety to your brain.
If you had pain for a long time, your brain believes that you are in danger, that there
is still something broken, damaged or injured in your body.
Reappraisal means a shift in the way you see the origins of your pain.
And the third mechanism is the positive affect induction, which means you can feel lighter
by sending some positive messages to your body.
This could be using humour, jokes, visualizations, breathing, sending love to your painful sensations.
Treating the painful sensations with tender loving care or TLC.
Third, this is a form of exposure therapy.
Have you heard of people who have phobias?
Some people are afraid of spiders, and how do you remove their fear of spiders?
It is by exposing them to spiders, first by showing pictures of tiny spiders, then showing
real spiders, and they learn that the spider is a tiny animal that is not dangerous to
them.
Well, I know there are real tarantulas or other venous spiders, but the idea here is
that the tiny house spiders are really not dangerous.
Some people have fear of speaking in public, this is called stage fright.
And this kind of fear can really impact their career advancements.
For example, some people do not accept a promotion at work because they are afraid they will
need to speak to a classroom or teach their colleagues at work.
So, they need exposure therapy.
Somatic tracking is a kind of exposure therapy.
You are exposing your mind to the pain sensations, but noticing them as just a neutral sensation,
and turning down the danger signals that are commonly associated with pain.
The main goal of somatic tracking is not to get rid of the pain.
The main goal is to learn how to feel safe in the presence of pain.
There is no pressure to reduce pain.
Fourth, the goal of somatic tracking is to cut the fuel of pain.
Do you know what is the main fuel of pain?
It is fear.
That is why somatic tracking works.
If you feel safe in the presence of the sensation of pain, then your brain does not need to
amplify the pain sensation.
If you do not see this chronic pain that you have as a dangerous sensation, then your brain
will decrease the pain automatically.
The brain keeps maintaining the chronic primary pain because it thinks you are in danger and
you are not taking action to eliminate the danger.
Once the brain sees that you are safe, it will turn down the pain alarm.
The main problem that I see people doing somatic tracking is that they think this is a way
of decreasing the pain intensity.
No, it is not.
It will only decrease the pain if you are able to cut the fuel of pain.
So, keep practicing somatic tracking until you feel safe in the presence of pain.
Fifth, another goal of somatic tracking is to lose the fear of movement.
Many people are afraid of moving because they had setbacks, or flare ups when they tried
to exercise.
Try to practice somatic tracking while doing movements that would cause a setback, this
is a good opportunity for you to do it.
While doing those movements, keep sending message of safety to your brain.
Notice the movements with curiosity.
Observe what happens, you are not in danger, it is safe.
Even if your brain responds with more pain, remember, the pain is not a reflection of
how much danger is in your body.
In your case, hurt does not mean harm.
Many years ago I had a patient that had chronic knee pain.
She thought her pain was caused by osteoarthritis.
All the doctors who saw the x-rays and MRIs of her knee told her that she needed a knee
replacement.
She came to me to see if there was anything I could do for her.
When I examined her knee I saw that there was some osteoarthritis, but she had excellent
function, range of motion and most of her pain was not due to osteoarthritis, but from
muscle tension around the knee area.
I told her that her brain was sensitized and she needed to walk more, not less.
She didn’t believe me.
Then I asked her this question: “When you go on vacation to your country, is your pain
worse or better?”
She told me that when she is on holidays with her family she barely feels the knee pain,
she walks more, visiting friends, she doesn’t even need to take her painkillers.
I asked her “Did you leave your osteoarthritis here or did you bring these knees with you?”
She laughed, but she realized that she still had osteoarthritis when she was on holidays,
but her brain was able to shut down the pain sensations.
So, with this knowledge, we started a program that she trained her mind and body that her
pain was not caused by osteoarthritis, that in fact, her brain was able to cancel the
pain alarm.
Guess what?
She didn’t need a knee replacement and she is now doing aqua therapy 5 days a week and
feeling a lot better.
Now, here are some tips for you when you practice somatic tracking:
Number 1.
Ask your doctor or therapist if brain retraining techniques, like somatic tracking is a good
technique for you to do.
Remember, not all chronic pains are nociplastic or primary pain.
If you have a chronic nociceptive or neuropathic pain, then your pain is a signal that there
is some danger in your body and that you need to tender to that sensation seriously.
Number 2.
Do not do somatic tracking to reduce the pain intensity.
Use somatic tracking to feel safe in the presence of pain.
Number 3.
If you are not feeling pain, then you do not need to do somatic tracking.
Just go and enjoy your life.
Wait until your pain comes back and then use that period as an opportunity to retrain your
brain.
Number 4.
Do not try to do somatic tracking if your pain is a at a very high intensity.
It will be really hard for you to feel safe if your pain is very intense.
Try to do somatic tracking when your pain is at a mild to moderate intensity.
Number 5.
If your pain is intense, use some of the other tools you have in your toolbox to lower the
intensity of your pain.
Number 6.
Try different ways of doing this exercise, it is a mind-body retraining.
The more you practice the better you get at it.
Remember, you are undoing synapses, you are retraining your pain and desensitizing your
pain system.
Do you remember the analogy that I always use to explain nociplastic pain?
I explain that pain is like the alarm system of the body, like the alarm system of the
house.
Nociplastic pain means that the alarm is going off, making loud noise all the time but there
is no fire, no smoke, no burglar.
It is just a false alarm.
So, you call the alarm company and they will regulate the alarm system of your house.
This is exactly what you are doing to your alarm system, you are regulating it.
Lastly, we don’t want to shut down the pain alarm system, because you need it to survive.
But we want the pain alarm system of your body to react when there is a danger, not
when you are safe.
In the words of Alan Gordon, “In order to get rid of chronic (nociplastic) pain all
you have to do is change your understanding of what the actual sensation is”
Visit my website www.doctorandreafurlan.com to get more information about chronic pain.
I have many resources that you can download if you have chronic pain.
And I offer online courses for healthcare professionals who want to learn more about
how to treat people with chronic pain.
Thank you for watching Good bye