EXERCISES IN DISCOMFORT FOR THE SELF-MANAGEMENT OF PAIN: DISCOMFORT AND RELAXATION

In order to condition our mind to be less disturbed by pain, we are deliberately going to expose ourselves to some degree of discomfort; at the same time we shall keep our mind calm and relaxed so that the discomfort simply does not disturb us. And because it does not disturb us, we do not really perceive it as discomfort at all.

You suffer from pain. And I suggest to you that you expose yourself to further discomfort. I can see your reaction. “No, I have enough suffering. I don’t want any more. I could not bear any more.” This reaction is understandable. But just remember two things. You will not experience any feeling of discomfort; you will merely place yourself in a situation which under ordinary circumstances would be uncomfortable, but because of your relaxed state of mind, you do not feel as uncomfortable. And, secondly, remember that this is an important step in the

self-management of pain, just as exposure to the phobic situation was in the relief of phobic anxiety.

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DISEASES OF THE SPLEEN

The spleen has its area in the left iris, 20′-25′ in the sixth minor zone. A lighter colour in the spleen area is found with inflammation of the spleen (splenitis), and also in diseases of stomach and intestine. A darkened spleen area indicates a diminished function of this organ. This is found with blood stasis following myocardial weakness, and with liver complaints.

The spleen and liver have a close connection to one another. Patients in whom spleen and liver areas are darkened cannot sleep at night. A very dark spleen area enables one to diagnose the tendency to feverish illnesses.

An enlarged spleen is suggested when the spleen area in the iris is enlarged, when the

iris-wreath is contracted in towards the intestinal zone, or any existing cramp-rings are displaced inwards towards the iris-wreath.

At first, the tumour-signs in the spleen area are lighter, from the overactivity, but with functional insufficiency of the spleen, the spleen area becomes darkened and black points develop.

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MENSTRUAL PROBLEMS: HOW TO COPE-IN VARIOUS SITUATIONSC-AT SCHOOL:

INTERACTING WITH OTHERS

One of the difficulties about being depressed, irritable or angry at school is that, so often, you’re not the only one. We know from Dr Dalton’s researches that groups of females who spend a lot of time together seem to trigger one another’s periods off, so that some of them have periods within one or two days of each other. If you and your particular group of friends have that effect on one another, many of you could be suffering from the miseries at the same time. And if that’s so, it’s very likely that far from helping one another you’ll actually be making one another worse. The rows or the blues can be really prodigious when you’re all out of balance at the same time.

What’s to be done about it? One way of coping is to work out when your aching miseries are due and then spend more time with other people who aren’t off-balance and a lot less with your particular friends on those days when you’re all at risk. Failing that, you and your friends could make a pact (when you were all safely through the miseries and happy again) that whatever any of you said before your periods the rest would ignore, and that no decision made at the time would be taken seriously and could be reversed a fortnight later anyway. If you are all learning how to relax together and noticing from your charts that the time when you’re off-balance is getting shorter and shorter month by month, the whole thing will get easier as you go along anyway.

Another rotten thing about periods is that as well as being able to trigger one another, you can also trigger yourself off, even though it’s certainly not intentional and you often don’t want to at all. If you are in an emotional state, because you have just split up with your boyfriend, for example, or you have had a row with your mother, your body may react to your emotions by starting a period whether it’s due or not. This is really adding insult to injury, because you probably feel bad enough already without that.

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