How to calm chronic pain is something many people search for, and for good reason — when pain spikes, it can feel overwhelming and frightening. Coping skills like breathwork, mindfulness, and grounding aren’t about ignoring pain; they work because they send believable safety signals to the brain, which can deactivate danger responses and change how pain is produced and perceived.
When we’re anxious or distressed, our threat detection system is on high alert, scanning for danger. In moments of high stress, the instinctual brain often takes over, and we lose the ability to think clearly and rationally. When we are in this kind of heightened state, we are far more likely to interpret everything — including sensations — through a lens of danger and, therefore, perceive them as louder and more intense than they really are.
Slowing down, engaging in breathing exercises, and being mindful send clear and believable safety signals to the brain. These practices slow the heart rate, ease muscle guarding, and shift attention, allowing the nervous system to stand down. The rational thinking brain can come back online, and only then will cognitive-behavioral techniques work.
Using these tools repeatedly helps the brain learn to regulate in moments of high stress, allowing it to predict less danger and generate less pain. The more familiar your brain becomes with calm, the more it gravitates toward that state — creating a new default of safety.
Self-Regulating Techniques
Here are some self-regulating techniques that can help manage anxiety and stress:
- Deep Breathing: Inhale through your nose for four, hold for four, exhale through your mouth for six.
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Tense then relax muscle groups from toes to head.
- Mindfulness Meditation: Observe thoughts and sensations without judgment; imagine a peaceful scene to ground yourself.
- Journaling: Write out thoughts and emotions to process stress.
- Time in Nature: Engage with natural surroundings to lower stress.
- Exercise: Even gentle movement boosts mood through endorphins.
- Limit Screen Time: Reduce overstimulation and anxiety from constant digital input.
A New Skill: The “Polar Bear Dive”
This playful one-minute reset, shared by Kenneth Lee, LPC during a WellBody Psychotherapy consultation, uses the mammalian dive reflex — a natural survival response triggered by cold water immersion and breath-holding.
The dive reflex slows the heart rate, redirects blood flow to vital organs, and engages the vagus nerve, helping regulate the nervous system. You can activate it using brief cold exposure to the face.
Try it:
- Cold cue (10–20 seconds): Hold a wrapped ice pack to your face.
- Breath cue: Inhale gently → long exhale (4 in, 6–8 out).
- Re-orient: Name 3 things you see, 2 you feel, 1 you hear.
*Safety: Use a cloth barrier; avoid prolonged cold exposure.
Practitioner Spotlight: Share a Coping Skill
Do you have a clinician-tested strategy that teaches safety and is easily adaptable (like the polar bear dive)? We’d love to feature it in a future issue!
Send a brief note with what it is, when to use it, and why it helps the brain.
Email: info@painreprocessingtherapy.com (Subject: Coping Skill Spotlight)
The Brain-Body Loop
Autonomic shift (bottom-up regulation): Slow, extended exhales increase vagal tone and reduce arousal. Evidence shows deep breathing can reduce acute pain intensity and physiological stress markers.
4-7-8 Breathing: Inhale 4 → hold 7 → exhale 8. This suppresses fight-or-flight responses and activates rest-and-digest.
Cognitive tools (top-down regulation): Safety-based reappraisal (“This is a sensitized signal, not danger”) helps quiet threat responses.
Prediction update: Chronic neuroplastic pain improves when beliefs shift from “damage” to “retrainable signaling.” In the PRT clinical trial, 66% became pain-free or nearly pain-free post-treatment.
Being in sustained anxiety primes the brain toward threat. Reframing sensations through a psychological lens helps reinforce safety.
How This Connects to Pain
Chronic pain is shaped by the brain’s ability to predict danger. When arousal decreases and thoughts reframe sensations, the brain learns to reduce pain from the top down. This is why breathing exercises, grounding, cold cues, and cognitive reframing are powerful — they repeatedly teach the brain to feel safe.
Reading Corner
Rewire Your Anxious Brain by Catherine Pittman, PhD & Elizabeth Karle, MLIS — a neuroscience-based guide to understanding fear pathways and calming the mind.
Ready for 1-on-1 Support?
WellBody Psychotherapy provides compassionate, brain-based care for chronic pain. Our licensed clinicians use Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) along with breath work, gentle exposure, pacing, and cognitive tools to help your nervous system relearn safety.
What to Expect:
- A thorough intake grounded in your history and goals
- A personalized plan integrating education + practical skills
- Consistent, supportive guidance as your brain relearns safety