Vidyamala Burch

This book is based primarily on Eastern philosophies and pays close attention to the idea of mindfulness. I read it as part of a pain management course for my rheumatoid arthritis. I've had RA for nearly 13 years and it is starting to take a toll on my joints, reducing my mobility and drastically increasing my levels of pain.

People say arthritis is like having bad toothache all over your body you can do nothing about. I am lucky and have only several really bad joints, so I prefer to think of it as walking on two sprained knees someone has shoved need hot knitting needles through. I needed something to complement my arsenal of drugs that would help me cope when my pain escalated to the point where I couldn't walk at all or just sat crying, afraid to stand up.

This book won't make any pain go away, but it will help you learn methods and coping mechanisms for the tough times. Above all things, it makes you feel as if you are not alone. It is hard to make pain free people understand what chronic pain feels like, so a book written and developed by a sufferer is refreshing. Although I do sometimes wish I could get some flagellate punishment device and strap it to some people and tell them they can never take it off to help them understand.

This book works best with the guided meditations that are available for download from the author's website or on cd. The meditation exercises are written in the book, but I found it easier to listen to these rather than read them when I wanted to meditate.

I've not properly started my pain management course yet, but I have hopes that this book will be of benefit.… (mer)