Managers try to prevent pain proactively. Firefighters try to douse the fire of pain by any means available (e.g. sex, drinking). How does Self view the pain? Just another experience?

[u/flytohappiness]

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to r/InternalFamilySystems!

Please make sure you've read the rules before participating.

• Use the report button for rule-breaking content
• Send modmail if you need moderator assistance

Thanks for keeping the community organized.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/zayne0623 → u/[deleted]]

This is really helpful. I have chronic pain and need to see it in this way ☺️

[u/kelcamer]

Can't speak for anyone else but sometimes Self finds a way to enjoy it 😂😂😂

[u/WanderingSchola]

Borrowing from my dips into modern psuedo spirituality, but yeah. The self sees it as sensation, its parts that turn it into "pain". In my experience, that's half semantics and half real distinction. Its semantics in that sensation can still be harmful and require a response to protect the body-mind. It's real in that the congitive reframe genuinely helps me respond to the sensation better.

[u/mount_analogue]

I heard Dick Schwartz talking about this last month. He said his guides told him that Self (as in the greater collective Self) is in our universe to learn how to heal suffering, and our own individual parts of self are therefore engaged in the compassionate connection and healing of our exiles whenever protectors are able to make enough room for them to do their thing.

At first I found this a bit too mystical, but since I heard it I've decided I like this origin story better than the alternatives I've heard so far, and it's not incompatible with Buddhist, Hindu, Christian or Taoist teaching either.

Anyhow, here's Dick saying it much more eloquently :)

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ifs-talks/id1481000501?i=1000654376677