Its the same with anything, the more you practice, the better you become: perfect practice makes perfect performance.
But, this great secret of super performers (practice, practice, practice,) is the same for those with chronic pain. The better you get at sending pain messages, the more it hurts.
This is great if you are  a masochist, but sucks  a bit  for the rest of us.
“Simply put, pain that persists can become chronic because your neurons become more efficient at transmitting pain signals. The strengthening of connections between neurons through repeated use is called Long Term Potentiation, (LTP).“
Dr. Darnall said “The results also underscore the importance of non-pharmacologic psycho-behavioral treatments for chronic pain and also for anxiety,” she added. “When people learn skills to decrease the physiological markers of anxiety or stress, they are simultaneously treating pain.”
Anxiety amplifies pain, so it seems there is  a lot in that tree hugging hippy crap of relaxing and thinking happy thoughts: certainly being negative and depressed does not help your pain
Read another review here