Your Declaration of Independence starts now

Freedom from pain, Pt 1 [Image](https://) Greetings Everyday Spy, Americans are celebrating freedom and independence this Thursday, July 4th. So over the course of this week, you’re getting a mini crash course that will help you declare war on something that can keep you from being your best every day: Pain. Like the unfair taxes placed on the original American colonies, chronic and acute pain can be oppressive. Back pain makes it difficult to sit through long meetings or work at a desk for extended periods. Knee pain prevents you from playing sports or having fun with the kids. Neck and shoulder pain from straining at the computer leads to restless nights and tired, irritable mornings. Don’t talk to me ‘til I’ve had my coffee, right? Most people respond by using drugs, herbs, and hot/cold packs. But these methods don’t reduce pain. Instead, they temporarily block the brain’s ability to receive electrical signals from pain receptors. That is why pain always comes back after the treatment wears off. In the field, operators couldn't rely on pills. We had to learn to master pain tolerance. And here's the thing: You don’t want to dampen your body’s natural functions… You want your body to function as efficiently as possible. Especially when processing pain. This week, you’ll get help to [master your pain tolerance](. But first, information is needed to set the stage. Imagine your body's pain processing system as a highway network: The Nerve Superhighway Your body has 90,000 miles of nerve fibers, with the spine as the main superhighway. The further from the spine, the smaller the nerves get, like roads branching off from interstates. Bigger nerves (A-delta fibers) carry sharp pain signals quickly, while smaller nerves (C fibers) carry dull, throbbing pain more slowly. Neural Toll Gates Pain signals must pass through a neural gateway controlled by your central nervous system before reaching the spine. When there are no other sensations, pain zips through easily. But when your body is flooded with sensations, pain might get stuck at the toll gate, never making it to your brain. The Pain Command Center All pain signals ultimately arrive at the primary somatosensory cortex in your brain. Here, emotions can amplify pain, while cognitive reasoning or mental distractions can reduce its intensity. You've experienced this when getting scared of a needle makes the shot hurt more or when laughter or pleasure overpowers pain. There is a difference between ‘pain tolerance’ and ‘pain threshold.’ The two terms are often mistaken for each other, but they are very different. Pain tolerance is the amount of pain you can physically endure before seeking intervention through drugs, physical relief, passing out, etc. Pain threshold is the point at which a physical sensation becomes painful. Everyone feels sensations differently, but we all have a threshold where a sensation becomes painful. With this understanding, here are 2 tips to begin your Declaration of Independence from pain: MASTER TIP #1: Cognitive reasoning will boost your pain threshold. You already know that fire is hot and ice is cold – it is a cognitively reasoned fact. That is why you can reach into a fridge and pull out a cold beer without feeling any pain. But when someone puts a cold can to your back, your body startles because your cortex reacts to the sensation as pain. Whether your pain comes from an old injury or a dental cleaning, you can immediately reduce the pain by recognizing and recalling previous experiences with the sensation. This works whether the pain is a constant body ache or the unique feeling of a dental pick scraping your gums. MASTER TIP #2: Cognitive focus will boost your pain tolerance. All pain must travel on highways and through toll gates to reach the brain. The more traffic on the highway, the more difficult it is for the pain to get through the toll gates and reach Central Station. Cognitive focus is the way you make more traffic. There are two types of focus you can use to master pain tolerance: Active focus requires you to deliberately quiet your mind and focus on an object, sound, or mental image. Reactive focus requires you to overwhelm your senses with noise, images, and physical sensations. In both cases, your pain tolerance will increase because your central nervous system will be forced to prioritize pain signals against competing sensory signals. Women who give birth without painkillers use active and reactive focus to manage their pain. These 2 concepts alone are powerful in redefining how you experience physical discomfort. And tomorrow I'm going to give you the first exercise to understand your relationship with pain better. Putting you in greater control of your freedom of movement than you are now. Your pain tolerance crash course starts tomorrow. Godspeed, #EverydaySpy Andrew Bustamante P.S. Physical pain is unavoidable. But you can learn to master pain the way real spies do to stay focused and energized. You can also boost your pain tolerance by eating the right foods and using caffeine the way we did out in the field by [getting the Daily Power System here >>]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Don't want to receive these emails anymore? [Unsubscribe]( EverydaySpy, 411 Walnut St. #20309, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043