New Delhi, October 18 (IANS). Back pain today is not just a health problem but has become a symbol of fatigue of modern life. Working on computers for long hours, stressful daily routine, lack of sleep and lack of physical activity – all these together lead to back pain which gradually affects our daily life. But a new scientific report has brought a new ray of hope. A study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that relief may lie not in medicines, but in our minds and thoughts.
In this study of 770 participants, researchers found that both mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) significantly reduced low back pain. It may sound surprising, but the truth is that many times body pain is deeply related to our mental stress and emotional burden.
The principle of mindfulness-based therapy is straightforward. Living in the present moment and being kind to your body and realizing your worth, therapy teaches you to see pain not as an enemy, but as a sign. When the mind becomes calm, the body becomes stress free and the tension in the muscles reduces. Deep breathing, sitting with your eyes closed, and feeling each breath—these small actions can bring great relief.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) works not on pain, but on our perception of pain. It teaches us that negative beliefs like “I can’t walk” or “My pain will never get better” actually make suffering worse. When these thoughts are replaced with beliefs like “I can recover” and “My body is strong,” the intensity of the pain also appears to decrease.
This study shows that people who practiced MBT or CBT for eight weeks not only experienced a reduction in pain, but also reported improved sleep, mood, and quality of life. The most important thing – these measures did not include medicine, injection or surgery. It was simply an exercise in strengthening the communication between mind and body.
There is no need for any expensive equipment to adopt these methods. Sitting quietly for 10 minutes a day and focusing on your breathing or listening to a CBT audio session from a trained professional can be a great start. Real healing is accepting your body’s limitations and making small changes every day.
Back pain is not just a matter of bones, but also of habits. When we keep our thoughts and emotions balanced, the body also slowly starts repairing itself.
–IANS
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