Pain Control: It’s All In Your Head
[Tweet “The power of disbelief is as strong as the power of belief. -Tim Cridland”]The power of disbelief is as strong as the power of belief.
On this episode of Remarkably Human Radio, I chat with living sideshow legend and pain control expert Tim Cridland (aka Zamora the Torture King) about the extreme demonstrations of pain control that he performs on-stage, how and why he does it, and what the rest of us can learn from his experience.
Tim Cridland is known worldwide for his demonstrations, which involve pushing large skewers through his body – directly through deep muscle tissue – with no pain, no blood and extremely rapid healing. His many feats have made him a regular subject of documentaries and medical studies, and he travels the world lecturing and performing for a wide variety of clients.
It gets real weird, real quick as we discuss everything from the mystical traditions of the Sufi dervishes to modern medical pain control techniques – we even weigh in on the paranormal, biofeedback and how Tim caused trouble in his home economics class as a kid.
It’s strange. It’s fun. It’s a great conversation with a truly remarkable human.
[Tweet “I’m not in the business of hurting myself. I’m in the business of healing myself. -Tim Cridland”]I’m not in the business of hurting myself. I’m in the business of healing myself.
ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS
- Who is Tim Cridland, and why is he called The Torture King?
- How physical pain and emotional pain are similar, and can be controlled the same way.
- What medical monitoring tells us about really going on in Tim’s body.
- How pain is a learned response.
- How Tim’s extraordinary ability is the result of training, not some unique gift or genetic talent.
- The very unusual traditions that Tim takes part in in order to control his pain.
- Autogenics, self-hypnosis and other techniques of controlling pain.
- The nitty-gritty of Tim’s on-stage demonstrations, including the challenge of scar tissue, nicked arteries, hitting nerve bundles and how he stays safe.
- The power of directed attention.
- Tim’s brain on pain in an fMRI
[Tweet “If you can diminish your ego you can diminish your pain. -Tim Cridland”]If you can diminish your ego you can diminish your pain.
TIM CRIDLAND ON STAN LEE’S SUPERHUMANS
COOL RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW
- The Jack Schwarz Method of Autogenics by Jack Schwarz
- Rupert Sheldrake on Amazon.com
- Ormond McGill on Wikipedia
- Mirin Dajo on Wikipedia
FIND TIM CRIDLAND (Zamora the Torture King) ONLINE
Tim’s websites: astoundingshow.com & zamora.blogspot.com
[Tweet “Pain is a learned response. -Tim Cridland”]Pain is a learned response.
BOOKS BY TIM CRIDLAND
Weird Las Vegas
Circus of the Scars
MIRIN DAJO, AS MENTIONED ON THE SHOW
GET INVOLVED
Each week I bring you the story of a remarkable human, a powerful technique that you can use, or something amazing from the edge of human experience. I love sharing this stuff with you.
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And if you want to continue discussing this episode in particular, leave a comment below. Have you seen Zamora perform live? What did you think? Do you have more questions about his techniques? Ask about them right here on the show notes page!
Once again, thanks for tuning in. I hope to see you next week!
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Dan Ingraham
This is fascinating! Thanks for the interviews. I really enjoy your podcasts.
Roderick Russell
Thanks Dan! I’m glad you’re enjoying the show!
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ru4mj12 (@ru4mj12)
It was mentioned about monitoring heart rate variability on stage.. I’ve been interested in this, what equipment do you recommend? There seems to be many options.. emwave2, ithlete, stresseraser, resperate, omegawave, mbraining, bioforcehrv, etc.
I love the idea that the mind can dictate how you experience pain. Jo Marchant has a great book (The Cure) on how placebos can actually cure one of diseases. Chris Kresser did a good podcast with her.
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