Welcome to this guided practice,
Titration and pendulation.
This simple practice is particularly helpful when working with chronic pain,
But it can also be used for any kind of chronic discomfort with sensations or symptoms that you are experiencing.
Titration,
Which is a phrase coined by Peter Levine,
Means approaching or touching into discomfort in small doses.
By working in small increments,
The body has time to integrate the experience without triggering defensive reactions.
Pendulation is the gentle movement between states of contraction and expansion.
The nervous system naturally oscillates between activation and settling,
And when you intentionally practice pendulation,
You're mimicking that innate rhythm,
Helping the body relearn that activation is temporary and can be followed by relief.
Chronic pain is often worsened by the brain's interpretation of sensation as dangerous,
And this can create a pain-fear-attention cycle.
Titration and pendulation shows the nervous system that it's safe to feel a small amount of discomfort and then return to safety.
Over time,
This can rewire the pain perception so that not every sensation is coded as a threat.
To begin the practice,
Find a comfortable position,
Sitting or lying down,
And just let yourself notice what it's like to be here now.
Maybe notice where your body is making contact with the floor or the chair,
And just notice that contact and what that's like.
Take a slow,
Easy breath through your nose,
And just notice what that feels like.
And when you're ready,
We're just going to gently begin scanning our body,
And we're going to locate a spot that feels neutral to good.
It might even feel a little bit pleasant.
It could be the softness of your hands resting on your lap.
It could be the steadiness of your feet touching the floor.
It could be the gentle rise and fall of your belly as you breathe.
It could really be anything.
It could be just a tiny little spot on your pinky toe,
Just something that feels neutral to good.
Now,
We're just going to rest our attention there for a few moments,
And gently breathe,
And just let yourself experience that kind of neutrality or ease as you notice this part of your body that feels neutral to good.
And when you're ready,
We're going to shift our attention.
We're going to allow our awareness to go to an area in the body that doesn't feel so good.
And this may be a very familiar location or sensation.
You don't have to dive into it.
Just kind of notice it from a distance.
Feel its edges,
Its shape,
Its temperature,
Just noticing this uncomfortable feeling.
Remembering to breathe,
And we're just going to stay here for a few moments.
Now,
When you're ready,
We're going to go ahead and come back.
Let your awareness come back to that area of your body that you had identified before that feels neutral to good.
So bring your attention back,
And just notice again what it's like to focus on this part of you that feels neutral.
It might even feel a little bit pleasant.
Remembering to breathe,
And we're just going to stay here for a few more moments.
And when you're ready,
We're going to let our awareness come back to that area of discomfort.
Again,
We don't have to dive right in.
We can just notice it from afar.
And you might gently find a few words to describe the sensation.
Maybe give it a color or a shape.
We're not trying to change it or make it go away.
We're just noticing it.
Remembering to breathe.
And then when you're ready,
Let's go ahead and come back to that area of the body that feels neutral to maybe kind of good.
And just stay with this part of you that feels neutral,
Maybe even a little pleasant.
And just noticing what it's like,
That part of you at least,
Might feel kind of good.
Remembering to breathe.
And when you're ready,
We're going to come back to the discomfort one more time.
So go ahead and bring your awareness back to that area of discomfort.
And just notice what it's like now.
Is it the same?
Is it softer?
Does it feel different in any way?
There's no right or wrong here,
We're just noticing.
So remembering to breathe.
And we're just going to stay here for a few more moments.
And when you are doing this practice on your own,
You can continue this titration.
This back and forth between what feels good and what doesn't feel so good.
For the sake of this practice though,
We're going to let ourselves come back.
And just sense our whole body.
And within that,
There are parts that maybe feel good and there might be some parts that don't feel so good.
But we're just allowing more of us to be noticed.
Let your breath flow as naturally as you can.
As you just feel your whole body.
You might come back to feeling the support beneath you.
Just noticing what it's like to be here now.
Does it feel the same?
Or does it maybe feel a little different?
And if your eyes aren't open,
Go ahead and open your eyes.
Just notice the room,
The world around you.
And as you're noticing this,
You might say to yourself,
I exist.
And what's it like to feel and to notice that you exist?
You can continue this orienting to your environment as long as feels good.
This is a very simple but powerful practice.
It doesn't take a lot of time.
So practice this a few minutes,
A few times a day.
And see how it affects your experience.
Thank you for showing up today.
