Hi there,
Dr Adele Stewart here.
With this meditation,
I am not my pain,
Which may help with a different relationship towards the pain.
Finding a comfortable position,
Perhaps sitting on a dining room chair with the feet flat on the floor,
Or if you need to,
You can always lie down,
Making any adjustments you need so that you feel quite comfortable.
Noticing the points of contact that your feet are making with the floor,
Using this as an anchor for your awareness,
Knowing that it's completely normal for the mind to wander.
You can just notice the mind wandering.
Let the thoughts stay in the background and bring the soles of the feet to the foreground of awareness.
Moving now to the other places that the body is in contact with,
With surfaces,
The sense of gravity,
The feeling of weight,
Perhaps your buttocks,
Your back,
The back of your head,
Using the sense of gravity as your anchor.
And now feeling into what your hands are touching,
Maybe each other,
Floor,
Your legs,
Noticing the sensations in your hands as an anchor to the present moment.
Moving your attention now to where you can feel the breath most easily in your body,
Perhaps coming in and out of the nostrils,
The rise and fall of the chest or belly.
Perhaps you might notice the whole rhythm of the breath,
The body gently rocking very subtly with the breath,
Using the breath as an anchor for the awareness.
So normal for the mind to wander again and again and again.
This is simply part of being human.
There's a lot of power in the act of bringing the attention gently back from where the mind has drifted to,
Back to the anchor,
The anchor to the present.
And now gently noticing if there are unpleasant or painful sensations in the body.
Noticing if it's one area or several,
Choosing one area to work with today.
This doesn't necessarily have to be the most intense,
Seeing if an area is calling to you.
And notice if it feels okay to do some work with this pain in this moment.
This is this is this is actually kind healing work.
But if it feels too much,
Perhaps you're you're tired,
Overwhelmed.
So fine to not work with the pain today.
Perhaps you might like to just keep the attention on the sensations of the breath or one of the other anchors and allow the pain to be in the background.
And know if you do choose to work with pain today,
You can choose how close or far away you go.
No need to force anything.
It's also very common and natural to notice some tension as you turn towards pain.
It might be possible to breathe in and out and let go of some of that muscle tension.
No need to force this.
And if you are able to turn towards the pain,
It can be very helpful to use the breath to guide you into the pain or around it.
As if the breath is holding it like it's a cushion of awareness.
Noticing the subtle difference between breathing the pain away,
Which let's face it would be lovely.
And allowing the breath to hold it gently with awareness.
Keeping on breathing,
Allowing any softening that might happen around the pain.
And almost everyone will have some kind of inner commentary when they notice pain.
Something as simple as I'm in pain.
Or perhaps I hate this pain.
Perhaps a whole lot of other thoughts around the pain.
Right now,
Can you ask your thoughts to just give you a little bit of space just for a short time.
Just a little bit of space so you can turn towards the pain and gently label it in a really kind way.
Something like this is a moment of pain.
Or this is what whatever pain you're feeling right now feels like.
Perhaps with the same gentle tone,
You could try some other phrases.
See how you and the pain reacts.
This is not my pain.
It is just pain.
Not mine.
This is a human experience.
Human beings experience pain.
Right this moment,
There will be other people,
Perhaps many,
Many people in the world experiencing this kind of pain.
Ah yes,
This is my brain trying to keep me safe by producing pain.
Allow yourself the time you need to feel into this exploration of pain.
How these statements resonate or not.
Continuing to breathe perhaps around the pain,
Perhaps through the pain.
If you like,
You can move to another exploration.
Asking yourself a question without needing to go to your head to answer.
Perhaps as though you're dropping a pebble into a well.
Just noticing any answers that bubble up.
Perhaps words,
Images,
Perhaps even something else.
And the question is,
Is that which is aware of the pain also in pain?
Is the awareness of the pain in pain?
Letting go of the questions,
The explorations now.
If it feels right,
You may even thank the pain for allowing it to be worked on.
And coming back now to feeling the whole body lying or sitting in the room.
So the meditation is coming to an end.
Taking your time now,
Perhaps thanking the pain for allowing you to do some work with it today.
Gently opening your eyes if they've been closed.
Keeping a nice soft gaze.
And stretching and moving the body gently.
Any way that feels right.
