WHEE for post-surgical pain

Daniel Benor and I were attending a meeting of the Council for Healing and participating in a mini vision-quest that involved a mountain hike. Dan noticed that I was limping and asked if I would like to get rid of the pain. (A couple years ago while windsurfing, I tore all three of my hamstring muscles from my ischial tuberosity. The hamstrings were reattached to the bone by molly bolts that become tender and painful upon exertion and cause me to limp.)

I responded, "That would be great," but thinking to myself, "I've had this problem for 2 years. It's ludicrous to hope it will disappear." Dan then asked me to get in touch with what my leg was trying to tell me. I could hear my leg respond, "I hurt and feel constricted and tight." Dan said, "Fine, now repeat out loud, 'Even though my leg hurts and feels tight and constricted, I love and accept myself, wholly and completely, and I know that God loves and accepts me wholly and completely.' "

I felt rather silly at first, walking through the woods repeating this affirmation out loud, but after each repetition, Dan would ask me to assess the pain level on a scale of 1 to 10. I first assessed my pain at a level 6, but after repeating the phrase several times, the perceived pain level decreased to a 4, then to a 2. After about 20 minutes, the pain was completely gone!

One might attribute such an occurrence to a 'mountain high,' a fluke interaction, or the intervention of some gnome in the forest. However, this pain has never reoccurred with the intensity that it had previously manifested. Dan taught me to listen to my body more carefully and to notice when it begins to feel uncomfortable. "This way," he said, "your body won't have to start screaming with pain to get your attention."

So now when I begin to 'feel' my leg 'whisper' that it is 'uncomfortable,' I simply pay attention to it and repeat to myself, "Even though my leg feels uncomfortable, I love and accept myself wholly and completely and I know that God loves and accepts me wholly and completely." With one or two repetitions of this phrase, the discomfort is gone and my leg feels fine.

I've used the WHEE technique for other problems and challenges, and it is one of the easiest and most effective self-care practices that I have found.

Lucia Thornton, RN, MSN, AHN-BC
President, American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA)

Published in:
Beginnings (Newsletter of the American Holistic Nurses Association), WINTER 2008