When Jack Schwarz sticks a long sailor's needle through his bicep, he feels no pain, does not bleed and has no infection.
Why?
He uses a detachment visualization technique.
It is not HIS arm attached to HIS body, but instead it is AN arm away from his body and therefore no feeling is possible.
Amputees sometimes suffer from the phantom limb 'itch' where they feel an itch on a limb that does not exist.
Now stand in a comfortable, relaxed position with your eyes closed.
Do some steady abdominal breathing for a couple minutes and assume a balanced position.
Now become aware of your left arm and raise it over your head.
Feel the muscles flex as you stretch it all the way to your fingertips.
Bring your conscious awareness to each set of muscles in your hand, arm and shoulder and feel the way they move.
Now lower your arm.
Now raise your imaginary or mental left arm, and flex and stretch it the same way.
Feel the muscles move as if it were your real arm.
Alternate flexing your real arm and then your mental arm several times.
Do the same thing with your right arm, experiencing as much feeling in your mental arm as possible.
Alternate several times.
Now extend both real arms out from your sides and rotate them in circles, then reverse the direction.
Make the circles bigger.
Do the same thing with your mental arms.
Alternate back to your real arms, then your mental arms again.
Repeat several times.
Now bend down to touch your toes with your real fingers and be aware of how the process feels.
Return to the standing position again.
Now bend down with your mental body to touch your toes.
Feel the same process take place with your mental muscles.
Come back.
Now alternate to the real body, then again to the mental body.
Repeat several times.
Now put your hands on your hips and rotate your torso to the left and then back again.
Do the same with your mental body.
Now swivel your torso to the right and then back.
Do the same with your mental body.
Now rotate your real torso to the left while swiveling your mental torso to the right.
Come back to rest.
Now turn your real body to the right and your mental body to the left.
Come back.
Repeat several times.
Now, extend your real arms straight out to the sides.
Simultaneously imagine your mental arms hanging at your sides.
Now slowly raise your mental arms as you lower your real arms so that they switch positions.
Put your conscious awareness into the process and feel the transposition taking place.
Now reverse it.
Lower your mental arms and raise your real arms.
Repeat several times.
Now with your real body, hop into the spot on the floor one foot in front of you.
Now hop backwards to your original spot.
Now let your mental body hop into the same spot in front of you.
Now hop back again.
Repeat the process with real and mental bodies several times.
Now jump forward with your mental body and remain there.
Now jump with your real body into that same spot.
Now hop backwards with your mental body, then let your real body hop backwards into your mental body.
Repeat several times.
Now hop with your mental body forwards and turn around to look at your physical body.
You have now learned to detach your mental body totally away from your real body to act as a casual observer.
This detachment visualization process brings about a 'realness' to the mental body that has to be experienced to be understood.
If you ever find your attention wandering in this exercise, stop and practice another day, for total awareness and concentration is necessary to perfect this technique.
In the end, you'll master this exercise and develop a non-attached point of view not hindered by fear or repressed emotions.