What’s in YOUR bucket?
The “Threat Bucket” Concept
A helpful exercise for those who deal with persistent pain
I was introduced to this exercise a few years ago and have shared it with many of my patients. This is a powerful exercise to better understand the mind-body connection when it comes to the pain experience. The bucket represents your nervous system and all that you are handling at any given time. There may be work stress, a poor night’s sleep, a fight with a family member, an old nagging injury, or any other variety of stressor that is going INTO your bucket. The spout on the side represents the OUTPUT, which is your pain experience. When the bucket gets too full (aka, your nervous system has exceeded its capacity for stress), the spout starts to pour out.
This is an incredibly important concept to understand because it puts YOU in control of the situation. You may not be able to change all of the things that are going into your bucket, but you should be able to identify at least a few that are within your control. For example, you can choose how much water you take in on any given day or the type of diet that you want to eat that day. Aiming for good hydration and relatively healthy, anti-inflammatory foods can help to bring the “water line” back down a bit. It is worth it to take time to write down all of the things that may be going into your bucket at any given moment. Identify those which you have some amount of control over and see what you can do to change them. Observe any differences in your state of being, especially as it relates to your pain experience, as you start to shift these factors.
This is an exercise that can be performed at any point in time when you are feeling stressed or feeling an increase in your pain. I encourage you to take the time to identify these factors because they can be very helpful in shifting your mindset and your brain’s wiring around the pain experience in the long term.
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