The latest medical advances show that accepting and exploring sensations of pain and illness can bring more powerful relief than the most commonly prescribed painkillers

Being in pain is not only physical but also a mental battle against the painful sensations, wishing them away and trying to endure them. But doctors now think that struggling like this actually makes your suffering worse. Many doctors now advocate a new treatment based on the ancient practice of meditation, which clinical trials show can reduce chronic pain by 57%. Accomplished meditators can reduce their pain by more than 90%. Brain imaging studies show that meditation not only soothes the brain patterns underlying pain but alters the structure of the brain itself, so patients no longer feel such intense pain. Such is its effectiveness that pain clinics now prescribe meditation to help patients with diseases such as cancer (and chemotherapy side effects), heart disease, diabetes and arthritis, as well as other conditions such as migraine, celiac disease and multiple sclerosis.