You'll probably find this a bit strange.

First of all, in addition to the aforementioned copper storage thing, I was also born with a condition known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. It's not severe enough for me to wrap my face around itself (creepy) but I can turn 360 degrees on one foot comfortably. Consequently, I suffer from spinal compression and intense nerve pain in my lower back and pelvic girdle. Ehlers-Danlos can cause dislocations very easily and it basically affects all connective tissue. It's funny; because of the elasticity of my skin, I look better on days when I feel like hell. I even look younger...

Mostly what EDS does for me is spinal compression. It's hard for me to find exercises to uncompress my spine, and up until very recently I wasn't on any real medication for this pain. It's a neat thing that shuts off sensation in the CNS, so I can still do stuff. Ok, sometimes I still hurt like hell while I'm using it, but I have way more better back days.

A lot of people who are in pain are angry. They don't know how to dispell the negative energy that the pain they have brings to them. I see it a lot around the building where I walk - there's a medical centre close by. They either clam up and hurt and then explode or else they just kind of shut down. To be honest, this is actually a natural, animal instinct-based reaction -- to run away and hide when you're in pain. But despite the fact that humans are animals, we possess parts of our brain which allow us to progress beyond this point.

The problem is that when you're in pain every day, running away and hiding doesn't really provide you with a very good choice. You need to come up with some way to change that negativity and turn it into positivity and then release it from your body.

I try to take my pain and turn it into positive energy. I play beautiiful music most of the time for my plants and for myself. Caring for my plants makes me smile, even if it results in dirt on everything I own, picking out slugs at 4 AM, or simply looking at what I have and what it will look like next year and smiling. Yes, it is true that it hurts to bend and do other garden-related things, and some days I just aren't up to it. My garden understands. Even though it smells disgusting and looks gross, I enjoy dealing with composting my plants. I enjoy almost every aspect of them, even though I'm in pain -- somehow the pain usually goes away, at least for that while.

I walk the dog a lot. She always makes me smile, and she's learning German very quickly. Before her commands were largely English with other words interspersed in between. Now she's taking commands almost entirely in German. And she smiles.

There is one other thing I do when I'm in horrible pain and nothing else helps. I put on trance music or a Russian vesper or something and do martial arts/meditation in my living room, stealing poses from ancient Egyptian statues and from statues of Krishna and other poses demonstrated in ancient religious or cultural statuary. It helps a lot. I also do martial arts, often in winter with the window open to get the cheap light. I usually do this with my eyes closed, so its hard to do with people home. I take great joy in this type of meditation.

Namaste and all that jazz
The Mad Hatter

PS -- For those who are unfamiliar with the term, Namaste is I believe a Hindu word which comes from yogic training and means "the divine in me recognizes and accepts the divine in you."