The RA Meditation Room

Making the Mind-Body-RA Connection

The mind and the body are closely linked. Negative emotions such as stress or anxiety may be misinterpreted by the body as pain, and our natural reaction to pain is to tense our muscles, especially in our neck and shoulders. Although natural, this tension can increase feelings of pain and discomfort.

One way to counteract this process is to help your mind and body relax. Learning to relax takes practice, but over time it can be an immediate way to obtain some relief. Try the guided breathing and meditation exercises described below, and begin your journey towards relaxation and relief.

Practice both of these exercises as often as you like. The more you practice, the more these exercises can help. Feeling relaxed and relieved will help you manage your rheumatoid arthritis and increase your sense of control.

Meditation and breathing exercises are not appropriate for all people who have not routinely used these techniques before. Always discuss doing new things for your RA with your physician. Please feel free to direct your physician to this Web site or print these exercises for him or her to review before you practice.

Learning to Exhale

Changing the way you breathe can diminish tension and stress in the body, regardless of the cause or site. When you alter the way you breathe, a message is sent to your brain that helps your muscles relax. This counteracts the message that pain sends, which tells your body to tense up.

Each time you practice this altered breathing, your body and brain will become familiar with the process and help you complete the exercise more effectively. Your body forms a memory of the exercise and its effect, and enables you to use it successively.

Here is a basic breathing exercise that may be helpful for people with rheumatoid arthritis. You can also download the audio version here. The goal is to be able to lead yourself in the exercise without the audio and without reading the text. That way, you can use this technique to help yourself no matter where you are.

Guided breathing exercise:

• To begin, help yourself get into a position that is tolerable to you. You can sit down, recline, or even stand.
• Place your dominant hand, palm-side down, on your stomach area.
• Close your eyes, and sense the movement of your body with the palm of your hand as you breathe in and out.
• Breathe as you normally would, and gently move the palm of your hand around your stomach until you feel the most movement while breathing.
• Breathe in and out, in and out.
• Gradually slow the rate of your breathing.
• Each time you breathe out, you can breathe out a little longer.
• Breathe in and out, and gently breathe out for a little bit longer.
• Each time you breathe out, you will feel the muscles in your shoulders relax.
• As you breathe out, you will feel the muscles in your neck relax.
• Just by breathing out, you can relax.
• The tension leaves your body.
• Each time you breathe out, you feel more relaxed.
• In your mind, begin to count from 1 to 5.
• As you get closer to the number 5, your eyes will open.
• You will feel relaxed.
• You will be able to feel relaxed whenever you want to…each time you breathe out.

Meditation Can Help You Find Relief

When you are doing guided breathing exercises, including some aspect of meditation can help you relax.

Meditation has been a part of how people help themselves for many centuries. It is based on concentrating your attention on a word, picture, or sound. When you concentrate on something other than your pain, you can help your discomfort diminish.

Here is a meditation breathing exercise. The text is here for you to review. You can also download the audio version here to help you practice.

Practice will help you make this exercise automatic and easy for you to do when you need relief.

Meditation breathing exercise:

• To begin, help yourself get into a position that is tolerable to you. You can sit down, recline, or even stand.
• Place your dominant hand, palm-side down, on your stomach area.
• Close your eyes, and sense the movement of your body with the palm of your hand as you breathe in and out.
• Breathe as you normally would, and gently move the palm of your hand around your stomach until you feel the most movement while breathing.
• In your mind, think of the word relief.
• You may even want to say the word relief, quietly out loud: Relief
• Each time you breathe out, you will see the word: Relief
• Each time you breathe out, you will see the word: Relief
• Each time you breathe out,
• Feelings of relief will increase.
• Each time you breathe out,
• You will feel surrounded by relief.
• Each time you breathe out,
• You will feel bathed in relief.
• Each time you breathe out,
• Relief is there for you.
• Each time you breathe out, Relief
• In your mind, begin to count from 1 to 5.
• As you get closer to the number 5, your eyes will open.
• You will feel relieved.
• You will be able to feel relieved whenever you want to.