All language subtitles for Limitless.Live.Better.Now.S02E02.WEBRip.en (1)

-So, why are we in Korea, BJ?

You are seeking help.

Here we have the benefit
of millennia of thinking

around pain.

BJ Miller is a
palliative care doctor.

He's the expert in
the world of pain.

-What is your personal
history with pain?

-Back pain.

I've had, I've had back pain
since I was probably 15,

and I have tried
everything over the years.

I'm hoping that he can offer me
some advice to truly understand

how much of it is here,
versus in the body.

-Even though about
two-ish billion people in

the world suffer from
long-term or chronic pain,

it's not well
understood in the West,

but in a country as
old as South Korea,

pain is a part of life.

This is a place where
they use the power of the mind

to tackle pain.

Chris will learn a
toolbox of techniques...

...from a culture devoted
to studying pain for

thousands of years.

And at the end
of his time here,

I will not be asking
Chris to avoid pain.

I will be asking
him to embrace it...

...to accept it...

...to run towards it, even...

Oh my God

...in a unique experiment
that could help all of us.

Pain.

I think we all want
the silver bullet.

The solution to not
feeling any pain.

I first remember having back
pain when I was in high school,

being diagnosed
with mild scoliosis.

It caused incredible
spasms in my back and

I couldn't walk properly,
twist or bend, or play sport.

Over the years, I tried
everything to try and fix this

problem and I'd have relief...

...and then my
back would flare up,

but I would still have to
keep training, still working,

pushing through it.

I think I've become good at
hiding it and managing it.

But then one thing
would happen,

and then it would all collapse.

I guess, like so many people,

I'm trying to sort of navigate
the pain experience.

Playing with my kids is
painful a lot of the time.

Every time I bend over,
my back,

my kids would
roll their eyes, it's,

"Oh, your back's always sore"

and, and it's not the
healthiest state to be in.

I'm looking for ways to
change my relationship to pain.

The first tool to reducing pain
is to understand how it works.

BJ reckons the best place
to learn is downtown Seoul.

-Pain, what is it?

-One thing to understand is pain
is, actually, really important.

It’s kind of your friend.

It is the thing
that keeps you safe.

-Yeah.
-That’s its purpose.

Something happens, you know,

like if you were to put
your hand on this stove, right,

you know, warm, even pleasant.

Without much thought,
you pull away.

Mm-hmm.

-That’s your nervous system
being functional

and doing its job,

and it’s all happening
in a millisecond.

-Yeah.

Pain is a signal
that helps us realize that

if you touch a hot plate,

it's going to hurt because
you're going to do damage if

you keep your hand there.

Sensory cells in our
fingers are triggered.

A signal shoots up to our brain.

It suspects there's damage,
so it sends a pain response.

Imagine a pain speedometer
that returns to normal when

that threat of
damage has passed.

This is acute or short-acting
pain but in some people,

these signals can
misfire over time,

keeping the speedometer
right up in the red zone.

This becomes long
-term or chronic pain.

-Do we have the ability
to minimize chronic pain?

-Totally.
-Yeah.

-Our brains can
dampen that signal,

or it can ignite a signal,
turn the dial up,

or turn the dial down.

You like hot food?
Spicy food?

-Yeah. To a point.

I love spicy food.

I kind of like to see
how much I can take.

Eating a chili pepper,
it's not dangerous,

it's not an actual threat,
but it can really hurt.

-Oh, it’s got some, so,
really peppery isn't it?

-Mm-hm.
-I mean, it’s really hurting me.

-Yeah.
-And it’s not affecting you.

-Right, because my brain has
decided it’s not a threat and

so now I can enjoy the
sensation in my own weird ways.

-I’ve got to tell my
brain it’s not a danger?

-Yeah. Not a danger.
Not a danger.

You're safe.

-Oh, it's a bad idea.

You got any milk?

-Yes.

-I would love to understand
how to regulate that signal,

change my sort of mindset so
it’s not on full blast and it’s

not sort of being amplified.

Milk and
Korean barbecue.

Yeah.

-Sells itself.

Our relationship to pain is
not static, it's not fixed,

it's not something
we're born with.

It's something that's sculpted
by experience and by time.

My own dance with
pain began at college.

I was messing about on
top of a commuter train,

until 11,000 volts went
through my body and I'm a

trilateral amputee now.

I have been for 35 years.

Skin grafts.

Um, burn is a, is a
particularly tricky, tricky one.

But I've learned a lot from it.

To be alive means to have pain.

I'd like Chris to understand
that using the power

of his mind,

he can changes
his relationship to it,

by actively engaging
with his pain.

So, BJ's brought me
to a valley outside of Seoul.

It's the first time I
get a sense of his plans.

What are we doing here and why?

Well, we can’t talk
too much about it now.

It’s a little bit of a secret,
because that’s sort of the

nature of pain.

You don’t know when it’s coming.

You don’t know how bad it
will be and you don’t know

when it’ll end.

-OK.

Over the
course of this week,

we'll give Chris a
toolbox of techniques to

help him live with pain.

And then, in four days' time,

we'll put all of
that into practice...

...in the ultimate
pain experiment.

I want Chris to join up with
the South Korean Special Forces

who have one of the toughest
training regimes in the world.

They use pain as a tool to
prepare their troops for combat.

We're keeping the details of
the challenge secret from Chris

to keep the experience
of long-lasting pain as

realistic as possible.

Come on guys, let’s go!

Success will be judged
if he can better tolerate pain

whilst doing some of the
most painful things on earth.

-Thanks in advance
for hurting me.

-Oh yeah, my pleasure.
-This is gonna suck.

Yeah, I think I'm
a little surprised.

It's just like, I don't know,
how that's gonna help in this

situation with my back pain.

I'm sort of at this point
bracing for the worst, in a way.

For my second lesson
in reframing pain,

BJ has brought me to
a hospital in Seoul.

Over the years, when
different training methods

or treatments didn't work,

I would have to use medication
to manage my back pain,

whether it be
anti-inflammatories and

painkillers, and
all sorts of things,

and they were all
kind of Band-Aids.

Medications provide
vital pain relief to more than

80 million Americans each year,

but our minds can also
do remarkable things to

provide pain relief.

I want to experiment
with Chris's ability to make

his own painkillers.

So, I have recruited two
close childhood friends,

Zoc and Azza...

-Do you want a better abs shot?
Is everyone happy with that?

...and I'm going to
electrocute them all in the

name of science.

Have you ever had a
nerve stimulator before?

-No, but I do know a little
bit about electricity.

-Mm?

-I used to be an electrician.

-Oh! OK.

-So, I hated getting
electrocuted.

-Oh, me too, brother.
-Yeah, you too.

I’ve given each of them
electrical impulse machines to

test their tolerance to pain.

Shouldn’t hurt a lot, but we
are looking for that line where

something becomes uncomfortable.

-Mm.

I’m slowly increasing
the electrical impulses

to their stomach.

One is mild discomfort but
it goes all the way to 15.

My aim is to find
their pain threshold,

the level it becomes
uncomfortable.

It’s weird.

-It’s weird.

But I’m aware they are
competitive animals.

Do you want me to
come back down?

-No, give us another one.
Come on, you dirtbag, let’s go.

Go, ah!

-Oh God!
OK, this is bad now.

Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, come down.

-OK, I’m gonna come down.
Coming down.

-OK.

-Brings me a huge amount of
joy watching my mates suffer

in such a way.

-What level am I at right now?
-It’s six.

-Out of ten?
-No, out of 15.

-Oh boy!

Ah!

-Remember, you’re
supposed to tell me

when it’s uncomfortable,

not when,
what you can take.

-Why, do I look uncomfortable?
-Yeah!

-It’s uncomfortable.
-OK.

-When you test the other boys,
say I made it to 15.

-For ten bucks, no problem.

Pain is personal.

Each of them is having a
very different experience.

Each of them having a wildly
different suite of numbers.

-And when I get wired up,
something interesting happens.

Oh! Here it comes.

It actually feels
like one of my abs is

being removed with a spoon.

It's horrible.

-Does that hurt?
-Oh, get it down, get it down.

-Yep, yep. Come down.
-Turn it off, yeah.

-Yep. It’s off.

-I was like,

'Oh yeah, I'll have the
highest pain threshold'.

Three again?

And I had the lowest.

Three? That's terrible.

It's 'cos I did so many sit-ups.

-Of course.
Of course, yeah.

-It’s an extreme thing.
-Yes, you beast.

-Er, a very weak one.

In the second part
of the experiment,

we’ll do it all over
again but this time,

he’s got to work through
that in a social environment.

-Your job is to play Jenga.

-OK.

-And at some point, we'll
start going up the numbers

just like we experienced...

-OK.
-...OK?

-I’m nervous.

-You got Chris and two of his
oldest buddies sitting around,

playing a game.

-Go.
-You put it on top.

No, the other way.

-I haven’t played Jenga
since the late ‘90s, I reckon.

-We’re gonna see how laughter
affects his pain experience.

-It’s not that bad, I’m fine.

I’m getting nothing.

This is easy.
I could do this all day.

-What’s my safe word again?

-Keep playing Jenga.
-What’s my safe word?

-Play Jenga!
Get in the game!

-It helps if you flex.

It's one of the most painful
games of Jenga I've ever played,

uh, but also the funniest.

-Keep going, Chris,
you can do this.

Look at me.

Look at my eyes.
Say 'Jenga'.

-Painful laughter, it’s just
a sort of mash up of emotions.

-I will not quit!
I will not quit!

OK, it’s starting
to really hurt now!

I'm getting it.

All the while, the dial
is being turned up.

No, no, no, no,
I’m not quitting!

I will not quit.

-It is too much now!

This is dangerous levels.

-I’m out!

-And for some reason,

I’m having a much better
time dealing with the pain

in this place than
I did on my own.

-You guys wanna
hear your results?

-Yeah.

-Jenga, this, in
other words, social,

you boys being together
and laughing and everything

you were doing,

completely radically
changed your number.

Chris, you went to 15.

The social...

-Yeah.

-...cue for you is huge.

It's a big one...

-Mm-hm.
-...which isn't surprising.

I mean...

-Yeah.
-...look at you guys.

-If you’d have told me I was
gonna get to number 15 when

I was tapping out
at number three,

I would have said
there’s no way.

-What have I done?

What have I?

Our bodies can
make their own painkillers,

hormones called endorphins,

and these can help
block pain signals

before they reach the brain.

-Crunch me to 15,
put me down, go!

We can boost
our endorphin release

through laughter...

...music and exercise.

-I don’t know which
one’s controlling which.

Turning down
the pain dial even more.

I think dealing with
pain, too often we think it’s,

you know, my problem to
fix and my problem alone,

rather than looking around
and seeing how we can pick

each other up and
support each other.

-And another thing, Chris,
for you to be aware of,

these numbers seem low
but what they also tell us

is that you have in fact been
dealing with a lot of pain.

-One of the things we want
to help Chris understand is

although pain meds
are effective,

the side effect of taking them
regularly is that his body gets

used to them, lowering
his pain threshold.

-This doesn’t point to any sort
of weakness, as much as boy,

you’ve dealt with some pain.

-Yeah.

For years, I wasn't
healing like I should have been

and that used to
drive me crazy and I would

just keep training
to try and fix this problem

I have with my back.

Doing dead lifts,
sprinting on the treadmill,

lifting weights and then
sometimes I would have to slam

medication and just
train through the pain.

That mentality can be
incredibly disruptive and,

and brutal.

And I realize now
that sometimes I was

just overcooking it.

-I feel for Chris.

He's a little bit more
at war with himself than

he needs to be,
and ironically or otherwise,

being at war with yourself is
a great way to lower your pain

threshold and hurt
more than you need to.

For his third lesson,
I've brought Chris to a

fighting gym in Seoul.

To build his tolerance
for pain he needs to learn

how to work with it,
not fight against it.

Stun Gun is an
incredible fighter, MMA fighter.

I've watched a number
of his fights and he's,

he's an absolute
weapon for sure.

-Oh! Hathaway is out cold!

The amount of
pain that one receives and

inflicts is wild.

And you think, why would
you do such a thing?

How do you build up
tolerance for that?

How, you must have a trick up
your sleeve or there must be

something to learn from this
individual, these individuals,

in the space of pain.

How, how do you, um,
did you have different ways of

dealing with pain, or was
it always just brutal?

I have been able to
endure pain since I was a child

For example,
when I was at school

we had to endure pain
when we were punished

So I lived with pain

I took it for granted

Kim Dong Hyun
grew up in a culture where

martial arts are taught in
schools and a common life

philosophy is that if
we expose ourselves to

small amounts of pain,

then we accept it as
a part of life and that

makes us stronger.

I began to
realize the purpose of pain

is just to signal the brain

that you are about
to get injured

So I found the sweet spot

I would fight and train one day

then take the next day off

That made me stronger

because when you are hit
many times, you feel less pain

-OK.
-OK. More strong.

Hui!

-Any of us can increase
our pain tolerance through

systematic graded exposure.

But you have to be
methodical about it.

By exposing ourselves to some
pain in a controlled way,

we can slowly train our brains
to settle on the experience and

understand it's not a threat,
thereby increasing our pain

tolerance bit by bit.

The key is to not overdo it.

-Did you find that
the more you exposed

yourself to painful situations,

it became normal
and then you accepted it,

so it wasn’t as bad?

With a lot of
experience and achievements

I started seeing the pain
as a glorious pain

This is something only a
fighter can feel and understand

a very pleasant and happy pain

I realized this too late

And of course, when
you lose a fight

it’s the opposite

Even a tiny scratch

can feel like a knife wound

-What I found fascinating
about this meeting was Stun Gun

embodies that pain
and, and it's a,

it's a glorified pain and
he feels great about it.

Whereas I had been treating
myself with such aggression and

a lot of that was to do
with being in a constant

fight with it.

Because so many times,
people with serious injuries

have been told,
"Ah, it's unwarranted.

You're not injured.

Get over yourself.
Toughen up.

Rub some dirt in it,
get back out there"

and so I had this, like,

rejection to, um,
any sort of weakness.

Chris, he's kind of
realized the limitations of

that approach to pain.

Gritting your teeth all the
time to prove your toughness.

I want him to soften a little
bit around the total experience

of his pain.

And Stun Gun's approach to
both reframing pain and graded

exposure are two great
techniques for our toolbox.

Incoming! Get down!

Come on, let's go!

Especially when Chris
encounters unexpected pain with

the South Korean Special Forces.

Keep moving forward!

Ah!

For my next lesson,

BJ is taking me to an ancient
monastery in the mountains.

A place that's
steeped in Buddhism,

a religion that has a long
history of confronting and

working with pain.

OK, ooh!

I want Chris to meet the
Spiritual Patriarch to truly

engage with his mind,

as this could be
key to his suffering.

In a word, I’d love Chris to
find a little bit more peace.

If
you observe pain closely

It's a sensation and a thought

nothing more, nothing less

Your thoughts

make the suffering a reality

-So, we have pain,
then we have suffering.

How do we identify the
difference between the two?

When you look
closely at your pain’s origin,

you will realize

pain is part of life

and you must be
able to accept it in your heart

I guess I've never been
able to separate the pain

and the suffering.

Over the years,

I've tried physiotherapy
and acupuncture, yoga,

strength training, and although
sometimes I would get relief,

nothing would permanently
fix the problem...

...and it scared the
hell out of me.

Didn't know if I'd be able to
go and perform that stunt or

train properly in
prep for a role.

I didn't know that I could
go surfing, you know.

But I think what was worse
than the physical pain was the

emotional discomfort, the
anxiety that comes with it.

There'd be such a vulnerability
and the insanity that rattled

around my experience
was, um, maddening.

I would sort of wallow
in that suffering.

I couldn't get
out of that space.

Humans
have 108 types of pain

By practicing the art of
prostrations 108 times

we believe we can shake
away every one of them

These monks use
prostrations, a type of bowing,

to reframe their
experience of pain.

It's a more active type of
meditation that could help

Chris separate his pain
from his suffering.

As your
forehead lowers to the ground

you will find yourself
in the most humble position

At first your legs will hurt

but your cluttered thoughts

will fade away one by one

and slowly you become
at one with yourself

After
about 20 prostrations,

I'm starting to sweat.

As I feel twinges in my
back and small pain signals.

And then I look around
at a hall of calm faces and

no one else seems
to be struggling.

Scientific studies show
that those who meditate can

process pain with a greater
clarity and less distress.

That's because the region of
their brain that deals with

emotions uncouples from the
region that deals with pain.

That doesn't mean people
who meditate don't feel pain.

It means they don't suffer
from it in the same way.

So, for all of us, practicing
static or moving meditation can

help increase our
pain tolerance and

reduce long-term suffering.

The more I
observe my pain without

judgment or attachment...

...the more I surrender
myself to movement.

And I begin to separate
myself from it.

And I feel like I broke
through something.

What is my relationship
to this pain?

Am I storing anger,
resentment, trauma?

Maybe I'm causing this,

or I'm definitely inflating it,
or elevating it.

Maybe...

...it's, it's up here.

How
did you find taking part

in our prostrations?

-I was considering a lot of
what you had talked about

earlier about sitting
with the pain,

being in a sort
of compassionate,

non-judgmental space and,

um, found myself in
a sort of flow state

with everybody, which was
quite a wonderful experience.

I don’t
think it is ordinary Karma

that you are wearing
monk’s clothes today

in your past life
maybe you were a monk

I would really like to see
you shave your head as well

-Sure.

That was
a remarkable experience.

Yeah, it was beautiful.

Sitting with the pain,
the acceptance of it,

surrendering to it, not
being in opposition to it,

not trying to
avoid it entirely,

but respectfully observing it.

And, um, the sort of combination

of all of those things,

I think is gonna
be quite powerful.

-And I think that’ll be key
for you going into tomorrow.

-Yeah.

-Over the course of this week,
we have offered Chris a toolbox

with a bunch of tools in it,
and now that he's become

something of a student
of his own pain,

I'm confident he understands
all the theory, he gets it,

but can he live it?

That's what the final
lesson is all about.

Any concerns, any questions?

-Part of the anxiety or
nervousness is based around the

fact that I don’t know
what I’m walking into.

-Yeah, no, my apologies.

I mean, this set up feels
a little cruel tomorrow,

but it's important that we
don't tell you what's coming

because that's much
more realistic.

That is kind of how
life is, you know.

You don't know when
the pain's coming,

you don't know when it
will end and you just know

you can't avoid it.

Can he stop resisting the
pain and instead, accept it?

The day has arrived...

...and the anticipation
is gnawing away at me.

My mind is racing.

I'm grappling now with
like, the, the fear of, er...

Mm-hm.

-...what's to come, because
it's completely unknown.

You have a bunch of
different tools to pull from and

the trick is
being in the moment.

That gives you the best chance
to stay with what's actually

happening and move through it.

For this constructed
experiment,

we needed to find someone who
is an expert in inflicting pain,

not treating it.

One, two...

So we're going to
immerse him into this created

environment with
the Special Forces.

It has four stages.

Like chronic pain, it
will build in intensity,

so each stage will turn
up the dial even further,

adding a different kind
of pain to the mix.

I mean, it's, it's, you know,
it's pain on pain on pain.

First off, is commando crawl.

This is an electric wire.

The first stage
will provide a base level

of throbbing, aggravating pain.

Are they
live the whole time?

It’s live the whole time.

We’re not trying to
be jerks about it,

but we are trying to be,
approximate reality.

It’s a long way.

Brutal.

Right, let's go, let's go!

Commando crawl!

Crawl! Crawl! Come on!

Incoming!

Incoming, keep your head down!

The course
is 160 feet long,

teeming with electrical current.

It's like being
stung by a wasp...

...every time.

Your knees down,
toes down, heels down!

But then I remembered
BJ's lesson in the restaurant.

Incoming!

This is
just a sensation.

Incoming!
Head down!

This pain is not damage.

Come on, let’s go!

Keep moving.

Come on, Chris!

That's minus two toes, let's go!

That's it go!

Come on guys!

Squad, we are not done here yet.

Climb up that hill.

Let's go!

I want there to be no let
up for Chris and this of course

is by design.

Now we're throwing in
a new pain sensation...

...extreme cold.

This exercise simulates the
recovery of supplies dropped

from a helicopter.

Chris and his teammate must
swim across the icy river...

-What do you reckon?
-Across is more.

-Yeah.
There you go.

...and release the
crate from the parachute.

OK buddy, when you get in
that water, you might panic.

Your body might revolt.

Roll with it.
Keep breathing through it.

Try to slow your breath.

Let’s go!

OK, brother.

Now a lot of it is just the,
the mind overriding the sort of

body screaming at you that...

-Exactly.

...-we're gonna die.
We're gonna die...

-Exactly.

-...this is cold.
This is bad.

-You won't die and
you're not your thoughts.

-And then I fall over.

The initial fall was a shock.
Now the doubt is coming in.

Woo!

Am I gonna be able
to do this or not?

The water
temperature is freezing.

But I guess I'm trying to
convince myself otherwise.

We got this!

-Woo!
-Quite warm!

Sun warm!

By saying it's not that cold,
it's not that cold,

it's not that cold.

And it worked for like,
ten meters and

then I'm like, "Uh-oh,
'I'm freezing."

-We have temperature
receptors in our sensory neurons

that respond to the cold.

Oh!

To preserve heat,
blood vessels in Chris’s skin,

his hands, feet and
extremities, narrow quickly,

causing sharp, aching pain.

My body
feels like burning,

feels like I have frostbite.

But I've learnt to make
my own painkillers.

Woo-hoo!
We have one!

-Come on Chris!

Because like playing
Jenga with my mates,

I can release endorphins...

...by embracing
humor and camaraderie.

-I'll be Rose, you be Jack.

Now as Chris
leaves the water,

his blood vessels reopen,

reactivating the nerves and
causing a burning sensation.

Uh, Chris, we’re not done yet.

It’s your stuff and
you’re gonna get it open.

-OK. Get it open.

Squad, move away.

Give him space.

Now, stay focused.

I literally can't
feel my fingers.

I just can't get the, uh...

And no amount of
persistence helps.

It's like a, er, a Rubik's cube.

My fingernails feel like
they're being torn off.

They're burning.

Who's got a knife?

Squad.

It’s, it’s, it’s not,
it’s not successful.

And then the pain gets
even more ridiculous.

I've never been
pepper-sprayed before,

and I don't wanna
be pepper-sprayed again.

It feels like a...

This is stage three.
Severe pain.

How will Chris now deal
with this very different

type of pain?

Keep your pose!
Keep your pose!

I didn’t tell you to open your
eyes, keep the pose!

Ah,!

Alright, squad,
open your eyes!

Let’s go!
Come on, let’s go!

So now, the teams
must deal with the constant

physical exertion of
moving 300-pound truck tires...

-One, two, three...

one, two, three...

...while their
eyes burn and swell from

the pepper spray...

...and their
lungs fill with the fumes

of flash grenades.

You literally
can’t breathe,

you literally can’t see.

And so you’re kind
of flying blind.

- Oh,!
- Hang on.

I'm doing the
best I can.

I'm dribbling and spitting
and swearing and...

it's an ugly sight.

How are you doing, boys?

What are you doing?

Keep moving.
Keep moving!

-Alright.

It hurts like hell.

The sting is unbearable.

I try to talk
myself out of it.

What are you doing, Chris?
Why are you in pain?

Stop being such a wimp.

Get over yourself.
It's all in the mind.

It’s not all in the mind,
it's in my eyes!

But beating myself
up about it isn't working...

...and I feel ready to tap out.

Chris!
What did I tell you?

-I can’t remember.

I told
you to use your hand, man.

-Yeah.

In the fog of this
debilitating pain,

I'm forgetting that
I'm not on my own.

The team will help
me get through this.

Yeah.

I told you
to move the tires, alright?

-Yeah.

I didn’t tell you to drag it.

-Didn’t tell me to drag it.

-We should roll it.

-You OK, Chris?
-We roll the tire.

Realizing your
teammates are going through

the same thing....

-Taste your pepper on the steak.

-Makes me wanna
slam my head in the,

big bowl of squash.

Delicious.

-Delicious.

-It does kind of
lessen the burden.

OK, here we go!

We are social animals.

We're designed to
share the load and carry the

weight together and
support each other.

Alright!
Everyone OK.

carry to fire positions.

But team or not,

I don't know
when this is ending.

And of course,

I keep worrying about
my back and every little

twinge or movement,

and every time
we change exercise, I think,

should I be doing this?

But I am and my back is holding.

What Chris doesn't know is
that this is his final exercise.

Get
your injured bodies,

bring them safely to
the finish line over there.

Come on!

It simulates the
recovery of injured soldiers

from the battlefield.

Each of these dummies weighs
as much as a fully grown man

and must be dragged
away from the frontlines

as fast as possible.

Chris, you got this one.

Careful position and EVAC.

Let's go, squad, let's go!

Keep moving, keep moving!

High-pressure
hoses provide the effect

of constant bombardment.

This is replicating chronic
pain at its cumulative worst.

There's pain on pain on
pain at the highest level.

The ice-cold water
on my aching muscles makes

me feel like I've got
nothing left to give.

And it takes everything
I've got to keep going.

Go, we're not
gonna quit today, keep going!

I’m moving
almost on autopilot now.

Keep going!
Keep going!

And I don't think I've
ever felt this exhausted and

I'm now realizing the very
profound sort of meaning

under it all...

...which is that
throughout my life,

the suffering I
have with my back,

had become my badge of honor.

It was like a part of me,
and I was in this constant

fight with it.

And getting stuck
in that mindset

was incredibly detrimental.

...let's go!

And that, that was the big one.

You know, the,

the pain signals
are not, they're not alive.

We don't need to let them
take over our lives or be

defined by them.

...cross
the line, you get running!

-It’s up to us how we
respond to our pain.

Woo! Yes!
Let’s do it!

I’m soaking wet,

I’m exhausted but
I feel a huge sense of joy

because like all great lessons,

the hardest ones
teach us the most.

Alright, you made it, Chris.

-Everyone back in the water.

Let’s go, let’s go.

-All pain is real.

Period.

Full stop.

It is one of the most
important messages of this.

Although we all experience
it very differently,

we can all change the
stories we tell ourselves.

-The more where we attach
ourselves to the narrative,

the more intense it becomes.

-Mmm-hmm.

And that alone will
affect our experience of pain.

We all have the power to change
how pain affects our lives.

-Yeah, the goal is not to kind
of be void of suffering, it’s,

it’s like, to accept, the
experience, to move with it.

-Move with it, and keep living.

This experience
in South Korea has been

transformative and now what
I've realized after learning

BJ's tools is that I'm not
afraid of my back anymore.

But I'm not entirely like,

pain free, you know,
I haven't like, oh wow,

I've evolved to a
state of like, non-suffering.

But I do have a better,

more compassionate
relationship toward it,

and myself.

And a toolbox...

...to help me dial down the
unnecessary pain signals.

-I'm out!

Next time, I
travel to Switzerland...

...to discover
if taking extreme risks...

...is actually good for you.

I look down...

and I immediately get
that wave of like, terror.