Member-only story
5 Steps to Facing Your Biggest Life Fears
Release anxiety to move forward without holding on to the past
MY STORY
CHILDHOOD: MASTERING PAIN
I remember the first time I learned about mastering pain. I was about seven years old. While playing kickball, I slipped and landed at a bad angle on my left foot, spraining it badly. It burned and stung and ached. The pain kept me up at night, even with some mild painkillers the doctor gave my grandma for me. I was irritable and annoyed all week.
One day, an older woman, a friend of my grandparents, stopped by and they brought me to say ‘hello’ to her. She saw my foot and her eyes grew full of empathy. She bent down and ask if she could touch me. When she did, my pain disappeared. Like magic. She stood up and whispered, “You control it. If you don’t want it, take it away.” She flung her hand like she was shooing a fly. And somehow, I understood.
I practiced. I would lay my hands on my foot as she had, close my eyes, and say a wish. It didn’t work right away. But I kept trying. I guess it was a sort of meditation I was teaching myself. I went inside the foot and spread heat until the entire foot was glowing in my mind. Then I rolled waves over my foot. Lastly, I imagined my tissues repairing themselves.
