Authored by Dr. David Alter on MindMatters

My daughter recently completed a Rube Goldberg assignment for 9th grade science class. Students had to invent a machine that, once started, would run on its own, and in the process demonstrate four “energy transfers” involving mechanical, chemical, thermal and electrical energy. It occurred to me later that our bodies do the same thing all the time.

•Sound wave energy is converted into electrical and chemical energies so that we can “hear” the sounds of the world.

•Our eyes receive photons of light and convert these packets of light energy into electrical and chemical signals that enable us to perceive the stunning visual world around us.

•Our thoughts are themselves made up electrical and chemical energies. Our thoughts convert these energies into production of protein molecules in our cells that power the activities of our daily lives.

Perceiving pain also requires energy transfers.

Pain is the name for particular types of chemical and electrical energy signals that are translated at different points in the body (e.g., spinal cord nerve roots & structures in the brain itself) into the experience we call pain. We are now rediscovering that imagination has the power to influence these various energy transfers in ways that alter the signal of pain.

How can you learn to do this for yourself?

•Explore imagery training (e.g., guided imagery training, develop hypnosis skills, use cognitive-behavioral techniques for modifying pain maintaining thoughts)

•Imagery training changes the sensitivity of our tissues to pain (i.e., it takes more signals to produce pain)

•Imagery changes the form of the sensation that is perceived (i.e., it changes what was pain into more tolerable sensations)

•Imagery produces physical changes in the way that networks of nerves connect to each other. Our imagination changes the structure of the physical body.

•Using imagery approaches helps your thoughts and mental images to literally restructure the brain, rewire the pain, and enable higher levels of daily functioning to be achieved.

Now, that is a Rube Goldberg project worth repeating!

At Partners in Healing of Minneapolis, we offer a number of imagery training approaches. Find out which is right for you and your body. Contact us at 763-546-5797 or visit us at www.pih-mpls.com for more information.