Monday, March 2, 2009

Live Pain-Free by Activating Your Mental Pharmacy

By Sandra Marlowe

Chronic pain plagues millions of people, and the widely accepted medical solutions have mixed results. Medication is costly. It can be both expensive and riddled with persistent side effects. Those who suffer from chronic pain are often forced to make a choice: live with chronic pain, or chose a lesser pain or uncomfortable side effect. What about natural solutions? Isn't there a way to employ the power of the mind to release healing chemicals that are just as effective, without the cost or toxic side effects?

Creative visualization and relaxation (CVR) provides a new solution. Acclaimed therapist Patrick K. Porter, PhD, has developed a new CVR program titled Pain-Free Lifestyle. His techniques are designed to help eliminate chronic pain in a natural way, quickly and easily. The program helps those who suffer from chronic pain realize that the most powerful remedy they have lies within their own mind.

The Pain-Free Lifestyle program consists of thirteen CVR processes, each focusing on a different aspect of pain management. The second process, "Activate Your Mental Pharmacy," leads the listener through a relaxation exercise and guides them to use their own mind as a tool for healing the body. Through this process, listeners learn to use the natural power of their minds as an alternative to expensive and sometimes toxic pharmaceuticals. (Of course, CVR should be integrated into a total pain management plan, and medication should not be discontinued without discussion and approval of a medical doctor.)

CVR is designed to relax the body and open the mind to change. When in a state of deep relaxation during Activate Your Mental Pharmacy, the listener creates a trigger that signals the brain to release healing chemicals designed to take away pain in the body quickly and naturally. The process also helps the listener learn to stop being afraid of the pain and truly embrace a pain-free lifestyle.

Just what exactly are these healing chemicals? Two of the most effective results of CVR are an increase in serotonin and endorphin levels. These two brain chemicals provide a sense of calm and create an overall sense of well-being in the body. Endorphins, in particular, provide relief from pain and act as a natural anti-depressant. One twenty-minute CVR session can increase serotonin levels by twenty-one percent, and endorphin levels are increased by twenty-five percent.

Physical and mental well-being are equally important benefits, and these natural chemicals address pain from both perspectives. Endorphins and serotonin calm the body, increase feelings of pleasure and love, encourage a positive mindset by acting as natural anti-depressants, and increase brain alertness. CVR allows one to cope with the mental and emotional effects of pain while also addressing the physical aspects. What medication on the market today can tout such a wide spectrum of benefits?

The key element to this process is relaxation. The listener is lead through a series of relaxation and breathing techniques by Dr. Porter. They become more relaxed throughout the process, and then find it easier to relax and focus when awake. Most are unaware of any discomfort while listening to the process, and this helps them absorb the information provided in the exercise.

Like most things, practicing the techniques often will bring about the most effective results. For most listeners, benefits begin the first time they listen and practice the techniques. The more one practices the process, the easier and more effectively they can activate the chemicals released by their brain. With repeated practice, chronic pain sufferers can even direct these natural chemicals to specific areas of the body, providing relief to the exact source of their pain.

CVR helps those who suffer from chronic pain make peace with their bodies and use their minds as the solution. Immediately upon using CVR, listeners notice improvements in their lives. Dr. Porter has designed the program to create a positive thought cycle. Each day will be better than the one before and listeners will truly live pain free. When activating what Dr. Porter calls the mental pharmacy, many healthy "side-effects" are also activated. Listeners find themselves craving healthy foods and eating better, being more active and doing exercises that are safe and even therapeutic for their body, and releasing anger and fear so that they can truly be free of their chronic pain.

At the end of the process, Dr. Porter leads the listener to a mental vacation. The listener has time to enjoy the moment, totally relaxed and free from pain. An important step in living a completely pain-free life is to learn to relax and activate the mental pharmacy. With CVR, listeners can do just that.

Dr. Porter has been working with the creative visualization and relaxation process for over twenty years, helping people to change their minds in order to change their lives. His pain-free program is designed to supplement the care and recommendations of a medical doctor. He stresses that listeners should never discontinue prescription use without first consulting their medical doctor. - 14130

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