Living Well with Pain and Illness

This book glows with warmth, inspiration and pragmatism. I have a chronic pain condition and floundered around desperately for several years trying to live the life I wanted, but lacking the skills and support to do so. This book stands out by being both challenging and kind, by speaking directly from considerable experience and by having every part of the programme united by the key skill of mindfulness. When I first encountered the concepts of "primary and secondary suffering" and of "drowning and blocking" described here, it was like a light bulb turning on! Everything I was doing when trying to cope with physical and emotional pain now makes sense, I'm not alone and what's more there are practical things I can do (and gently try not to do) to live a free, rich and meaningful life.

This book is very practical guide that will help you reassess your pain and illness so that you can see more clearly how to help yourself improve your daily life. By managing your condition / conditions in a more effective way you begin to remove the problems and pitfalls that irritate and compound your illness. Vidyamala has developed the techniques in this book from personal experience. I have five chronic conditions, with the help of this book and other aids I manage much better now and I am able to smile and enjoy life more.

Although my pain is depression Vidyamala's book has dramatically transformed my quality of life. The techniques suggested and the compassionate approach enable you to make the necessary changes, easing and lifting pain; increasing energy levels and most importantly helping lift you out of a feeling of helplessness. I cannot praise the book enough.... my gratitude is boundless.

You may look at the title of this book "Living Well with Pain and Illness" and think that it's contradictory and impossible. You may think it is a crock especially if you are the one living with chronic pain and chronic illness. I am one of those people. There isn't a day that passes that pain isn't in the forefront of my existence. I am expecting that if you are reading this review, you are feeling much of the same type of thing. I picked this book up with a lot of skepticism. I expected it to be another book telling me that chronic, intense pain can be controlled by thought and spirtuality and you don't NEED medicine. I was refreshed to find out that the author does not say that at all. She expresses clearly in the beginning that she is not shunning pharmaceuticals, but that she is using mindfulness, mindful movement and meditation as an adjunct to her pain medication regimen. I WISH that my mind was strong enough to block out the pain, but the fact is ... pain is there and a person in pain must learn to accept it and be mindful of it. Vidyamala teaches several wonderful methods to help to deal with pain and work alongside pain in a mindful way. She stresses that it isn't about ignoring or distracting oneself from pain, but rather maintaining a gentle awareness of pain and learning to find pleasant sensations even amidst chronic pain. I don't expect that this book is going to take anyone off of their pain medicine if they are genuinely dealing with harsh, chronic pain ... however it teaches wonderful Eastern philosophies which will enhance the living experience for all suffering through chronic illness and pain. This book is a great reference to come back to and a book that needs to be "done" not just read. 5 Stars for a great, compassionate work!

This book has been life changing for me. I realized that back pain, insomnia, and mood swings are very fluid and use them as an internal tracking device that gives me information rather being a sign of danger thinking it will never change. I can use my breath to relax the pain much more frequently using these very simple methods. You can usre the breath anytime - it's always available to you. The techniques it recommends are simple to use and do-able. I can't recommend this book highly enough if you're struggling with pain and haven't found anything that works. Add this to your toolkit!