This somatic tracking exercise is meant to increase your ability to manage pain or discomfort.
When we feel pain,
Our body sends an alarm signal to our brain.
This can create an alarm loop in which every time you feel pain,
Your brain connects this with danger.
This exercise can help you gently disrupt this loop so that you can find more ease in your body and in your mind.
By noticing sensations like pain,
Discomfort,
Anxiety,
Or nausea without judgment or emotions,
You can expand your capacity for them.
When we can sit with pain without fear,
It begins to lose its power.
Our goal is not to get rid of pain,
Ignore it,
Or push it away,
Because the more we resist,
The more likely it will persist.
Instead,
We will explore sensations mindfully and with curiosity.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable position,
Whether that's sitting in a chair with your head supported.
I invite you to close your eyes or take a softened gaze.
Let's take some deep breaths together.
Start by breathing in through your nose,
Pulling in air down your throat and into your lungs,
Expanding your lungs.
On the exhale,
Squeeze your lungs and push out every drop of air slowly and with control.
Then again,
Take a deep breath in through your nose,
Follow your breath into your lungs,
Expanding them fully.
Briefly pause at the top and then slowly and with control,
Push all of the air out.
I'd like you to imagine that you have just climbed the top of a mountain.
You are looking out to your surroundings.
You're noticing colors,
Textures,
Shapes,
Sounds.
You're taking it all in with openness,
Without judgment and with curiosity.
I invite you to take these same qualities of openness and interest and curiosity and apply that to sensations in your body.
Now let's turn your awareness to a sensation.
I want you to just pay attention to how that sensation feels without judgment and without resisting,
But notice what is its size?
What is its shape?
Does it have a texture or other quality that you're noticing?
Pay attention to how it changes and moves,
Shifts.
It's possible that because you are bringing awareness to this sensation,
It might be growing,
And that's okay.
Sensations do not last forever.
They come and they go.
They grow and they shrink.
They move.
They get louder and they soften.
Accept that whatever you're feeling or experiencing is happening in this moment.
Keep breathing.
Breathing in.
Let's not hold our breath.
Breathing out at your own pace and keep turning towards the sensation.
Knowing that a sensation is just a sensation.
They do not last forever.
Are you noticing any shifts in the sensation?
Any changes?
Could you welcome the sensation to expand beyond its border?
Notice how that feels.
And say to yourself,
A sensation is just a sensation.
It is my body doing what it does.
And remind yourself that this is not threatening to you.
You are safe in this moment.
And just allow the thought of,
I don't need to do anything because I'm safe and this sensation will pass.
And can you turn towards and face this sensation with curiosity?
I know it can be hard to do,
But you are capable of this.
Continue breathing.
Allowing your lungs to fill with air and expand.
And allowing all of the breath to leave your lungs.
Check in again with the sensation.
How has it changed?
Is it shifting?
Has it grown sharper or duller?
Has it increased or decreased?
Continue just noticing.
Taking it in without judgment.
Just curiosity and openness.
You're doing great.
Focus your awareness and your curiosity on the sensation.
Repeating that a sensation is simply a sensation.
It is your body doing what it does.
This sensation,
Like every sensation,
Will pass.
Keep breathing and allowing your body to feel supported and safe in this moment.
And repeat these steps as often as you need.
