Living with pain Close your eyes.
You can do this practice laying down or sitting.
Feel the contact with the surface beneath you.
Let your hands rest in your lap or on your belly.
You can also leave them alongside your body.
And bring the awareness to the simple fact that you are here,
Right now.
And feel how you are being held.
Feel the chair,
The cushion or the bed beneath you.
And notice your breath as it is right now.
It may be high or maybe low,
It can be calm or you maybe feel it is a bit restless.
I know there is nothing to change,
Only to notice.
This is how it is right now.
And from this base we will move step by step towards the area of pain of discomfort.
Not with the goal of making it go away and not to fix it,
But to sit with it,
To be present and to experience it as it is.
Our reaction to pain is often automatic,
Because we do not want to feel that pain.
And then resistance appears.
We push away,
We overanalyze,
We distract ourselves and keep going.
And sometimes that helps,
Because the mind is busy and we feel less in the moment.
Today you will practice looking at the discomfort with kindness,
Without resistance.
As if with warmed and open attention you say,
I am here and I am staying.
Now bring your attention to the place where you feel the pain or discomfort.
Choose one place,
One area,
Where you feel the most clear right now.
And if it is hard to choose,
Simply take the place that comes to you first.
And now,
Zoom in on this place with a curious and caring attention,
In a vulnerable way,
Without being hard,
Without trying to change it,
Without not wanting it.
Be curious and say,
I want to feel you.
What are you here to tell me?
I want to listen.
And keep your attention to this area.
Without judgment,
Without any story,
Without this is wrong or this shouldn't be here.
Only notice.
And thoughts may arise,
And simply notice them.
You don't have to do anything with them.
Welcome them and then let them pass.
And bring yourself back to that area.
And if the sensation has moved,
Bring your attention to where it is right now.
Now I want to ask you to zoom in,
As if you bring an inner magnifying glass closer to that area.
What do you exactly feel?
Is it sharp?
Is it dull?
A stabbing feeling?
Or an aching feeling?
Does it burn?
Does it feel pressure?
Maybe a tingling?
Maybe it feels warm or cool?
Maybe it has an edge or a shape?
Maybe it's moving?
Maybe it's constant?
Or it comes in waves?
You don't have to judge it.
You don't have to understand it.
You only have to feel it and notice.
Now also notice what's happening around the pain.
Maybe there is some tension around it.
Maybe you feel bracing yourself,
Wanting to protect yourself.
Or you notice thoughts that want to fix it or push it away or escape from it.
And each time you notice this resistance,
Gently invite one or more supportive phrases for yourself.
It can help by saying to yourself,
I can feel this too.
It doesn't have to go away.
This is what is here right now.
And this is not as a trick,
But as a signal of kindness.
Now imagine the breath moving through your body like a stream.
And with each inhale,
Visualize that the breath is rising from the tailbone,
As if there is a source lower in the pelvis.
And from that source,
The breath flows like a gentle current,
Slowly up towards the head and then along the front of the body,
Moving down through the feet into the earth.
Now I want to invite you to let the breath flow from the tailbone to the place where you feel the pain or the discomfort.
As if that the breath is moving towards that place,
From the tailbone,
Into the area of the pain.
And with the exhale,
Let the stream continue and disappear through the feet.
And if you are a visual person,
You can imagine a soft color or a light color flowing from the tailbone towards the area,
The area of discomfort.
And allowing there whatever color is arising.
And then let that color flow out through the feet into the ground.
Inhale from the tailbone towards the pain.
And exhale in front of the body and through the legs into the earth.
Now continue for a few breaths in your own pace.
And as you do,
Keep feeling,
Without judging,
Without resistance.
And if you notice the mind slipping into doing,
Into problem solving or into explaining,
Bring the attention back to that stream,
From the tailbone to the painful place and along the front through the legs into the earth.
If the pain becomes more intense,
You can also zoom out for a moment.
Feel the whole body again,
The feet,
The seat,
The back.
And when you are ready,
You can come back to that painful place.
If you feel like you want that,
You can always stop this practice at any time.
You are practicing with being present,
Without forcing yourself.
Again and again.
This gentle movement.
Kindly staying present.
Now let the breath stream move more into the background.
And once more feel the sensation in the painful place directly.
Without words,
Without labels.
Just only feeling.
It may be that the pain has changed,
Moved or temporarily faded.
And it helps to remember pain can be experienced in many forms.
We know emotional pain,
Stress-related pain,
Joint pain or even from an injury.
Whatever type of pain it is,
It begins with allowing that it's here.
Acceptance changes your relationship to the pain.
Because the resistance becomes less.
And give yourself time in this.
This is one of the hardest lessons in life.
And now slowly widen your attention to the whole body.
From the crown to the feet.
All of you.
Including the painful area.
And bring the awareness to the place around you.
Maybe you notice some sounds.
Maybe they are near or far away.
Notice the temperature of the area around you.
Or maybe you feel some air on your skin.
And feel your feet on the ground again,
Steady and supportive.
Now slowly allow small movements.
Move your fingers,
Your toes.
Make gentle circles with your shoulders.
Stretch your hands or your body.
And take your time.
No rush.
And only when you are ready,
Open your eyes.
Slowly and softly.
