Easy Do-It-Yourself Stress and Pain Relief

“Effectiveness is the measure of truth.”
– Kahuna Serge Kahili King, Ph.D

When you’re in pain, if you’re like a lot of people, you walk into your bathroom and reach for one of the common pain relievers you purchased at your local pharmacy or grocery store: Ibuprofen, Tylenol or aspirin. You might check the label for dosage recommendations. It says it relieves pain, but doesn’t say how. You don’t really care, as long as it does—the faster, the better—that’s a normal, human survival response wired into our brains. If you pay attention to such things, especially if you’re on prescription medications, you might  read the warnings about possible side effects or counter-indications. Maybe your doctor discussed them with you. Regardless, when you’re hurting, you want it to stop and might be willing to take some risks.

But what if you’re not, or what if, you’re allergic to pain relievers? As with exposure to many chemicals, there comes a time when our bodies shout “Enough!” That happened to me.

Back in the mid-90’s, I entered perimenopause, the start of my body’s journey toward menopause, and my hormones launched me on a miserable roller coaster ride. I was challenged with severe abdominal cramping and migraine headaches. Admittedly, I should have taken better care of myself, but like so many women, I had too much on my plate at the time. My attention needed to be on my husband, George, who was suffering from COPD (emphysema), requiring high levels of oxygen to breathe and a counter full of medications. I was his primary caregiver and was passionately vested in that. Thankfully, we had a phenomenal, home health nurse-advocate assisting us with dealing with his GP, pulmonologist, respiratory therapist and cardiologist. And at end-stage, we were blessed with a stellar, home hospice team. They not only helped care for him, they also gave me Therapeutic Touch treatments when they had time. But still, with a double whammy of stress and my own pain to deal with, I was popping Ibuprofen like M&M’s just to make it through the long days and nights.

After George made his transition in May 1998, I was on my own again, except for my bottle of Ibuprofen. Then one night after taking a dose, I started to exhibit signs of anaphylactic shock, and I knew I was having a severe, life-threatening, allergic reaction to the pain relievers. I was over-exposed. I could no longer take those, or aspirin (same allergy trigger). Tylenol was useless. So…now what??

For years, I’d researched alternative medicine approaches, for both my husband and myself—herbs, nutritional supplements, amino acid therapy, etc. Many of them were very helpful, including ginger, turmeric and Vitamin D3 for some types of pain. But even they weren’t enough. Having felt some relief from the Therapeutic Touch treatments, I started looking into energy techniques.

Most people are familiar with the term acupuncture. That ancient Chinese medical practice has now become so mainstream in the U.S. that many insurance companies cover the cost. Some hospitals even offer it in their clinics. Conventional Western medical practitioners are finally beginning to accept that complementary, Eastern medicine and energy modalities are effective and have much to offer, though many still do so only grudgingly. Acupuncture, and the non-needle version, acupressure, work with the energy meridians of the human body. Similar ideas are even taught in Yoga and Martial Arts classes. However, without health insurance, I couldn’t afford to go to an acupuncturist.

I finally found simple relief within my studies of Hawaiian Huna and Haumana Practice. I was taught the Universal Principle that “Energy flows where attention goes (and vice versa). What you resist, persists.” The energy of resisting actually gives energy to the very thing you don’t want. Stress exacerbates pain. In practical terms, the more you focus your attention on and talk about your pain, the more the pain increases. Sometimes, by simply shifting your focus from the pain area to a pain-free area of the body can help. Also, meditating on something beautiful, going out into nature, listening to relaxing music, watching a funny movie, taking a long bath or doing anything else to take your mind off of it can lessen stress and pain. Oftentimes though, these basic approaches are still not enough, especially when a migraine rears its ugly head! Luckily, I learned Kahi (see below), and that not only stopped my headaches within a minute or two, it also cured what had been a life-long, frequent reoccurrence of them.

I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, so I’m simply sharing the following easy techniques that work for me. Obviously, for serious conditions or injuries, you should consult a medical professional. Remember, just as you don’t know or care how pain reliever pills do their job, you don’t need to know how these work in order for them to do so…with no negative side effects!

Piko-Piko breathing for stress reduction:

Did you know that it’s physically impossible to feel angry, upset or stressed out if your muscles are relaxed? If you ever feel yourself getting upset about something, scrunch your shoulders together, clench your fists tightly and tense all your muscles…then…take a deep breath and consciously…let all your muscles go limp or relaxed. Use the breathing technique described below, and you’ll feel the stress drain away.

For relaxing before sleep and/or de-stressing, you can simply use what’s called “Piko-Piko” breathing. Close your eyes. Focus on the crown of your head as you inhale deeply and then shift your focus to your belly button while you gently exhale all the air. Imagine positive energy flowing in through the top of your head as you inhale and negative energy going out through your navel as you exhale. Do that 5-6 or however many times feels right, and you will immediately feel more relaxed and centered.

Piko-Piko can be used anywhere, at anytime as a mini break—in the bathroom at work or school, in your car before you pull out of a parking spot, in bed before you get up or go to sleep.

Kahi for pain relief:

There is a Hawaiian Huna energy technique called “Kahi” that not only stops pain, but also helps heal the cause (unlike pills that only mask symptoms). This may sound strange, but if you give it a real try, it will work!

Take one hand (doesn’t matter which one—whatever feels most comfortable) and place it over the area that hurts. Put your other hand either over your belly button, or in the center of your chest over your breastbone (whichever is most comfortable). Those places are major chakra (energy) points. Then, start breathing deeply with your eyes closed. As you inhale, focus your attention on the hand over the chakra point, and as you exhale, shift your focus to the hand over the painful area. Obviously, you aren’t trying to actually breathe in and out of those points, but rather, just shift your focus back and forth. Imagine an arc of blue light connecting your two hands, and say to yourself something like: “The energy knows where to go. This is all I need to do to heal this. Thank you, thank you.” Do it for 6-8 breaths, or however long feels right. Then, accept that it is done, and shift your attention to something else besides your pain point. Remember: “where your attention goes, energy flows,” so if you keep thinking about your hurting, you will continue to hurt. One treatment should give you relief, but you can repeat it again in 5-10 minutes if you need to. You can’t overdose, and the more you practice it, the faster it will work.

For instance: whenever I feel the first twinges of a headache, I immediately place one hand over that area, and the other hand over my belly button (covers two chakra points) and start the breathing. Within 5-7 breaths, I feel a little release-sigh feeling, and I know that’s enough. Then, I go about my business, and a few minutes later, I realize that my headache is gone!

The technique can be used for any pain points on yourself or other people. I use it for joint pain, bumps and bruises, abdominal cramps, toothaches (before getting to the dentist), accelerating the healing of cuts, stopping the sting and itch from bug bites, or for other, non-life-threatening pains. I particularly like it, because it can be used for self-healing, unlike some other energy modalities, and it couldn’t be anymore quick or easy. It helps balance the body’s energy system, and when one is in balance, there is no pain.

Here’s to good vibrations and balanced energy!

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Additional Information:

If I piqued your interest in energy healing, I recommend reading Dr. Eric Pearl’s book, “The Reconnection: Heal Others, Heal Yourself.” It’s an easy, fun read as he relates his journey and ends with two chapters that, for the small cost of a paperback, will teach you all you really need to know about using the Reconnective Frequencies. They amp up the Kahi even more!

Chakra Info and charts.

Read an interesting article on Acupuncture by a degreed acupuncturist about how it works.

Database of acupuncture points.

Common Acupressure Points for Self-Treatment.

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