Hi there,
Dr Adele Stewart here with a meditation softening the pain knot.
Taking a moment now to arrive,
Allowing your body to settle into any position that feels supportive and kind.
Ideally you can relax but also be alert and awake.
You might sit down or lie down or stand,
Letting the ground or the chair or the cushion hold your weight.
Nothing you need to fix,
Nothing to achieve,
Just allowing yourself to be here.
Perhaps having two or three deeper breaths to really arrive.
And now allowing the breath to return to normal.
Not changing it,
Just feeling it.
The gentle rise and fall,
The body breathing itself.
And if it feels okay,
Allowing your attention to gently move towards the area of your body where pain or discomfort is present.
If that feels too much today,
You might simply hold an intention of awareness.
Now imagining the pain in your mind's eye,
Not as a single thing but as a knot made of many threads.
One thread may be the raw physical sensation itself.
The pressure,
Heat,
Aching,
Sharpness,
Pulling.
See if you can gently name it.
Ah,
This is sensation.
And then notice,
Are there any other threads woven into this knot?
Perhaps a thread of fear.
Fear about what this pain means.
Fear about the immediate or the distant future.
And you might silently acknowledge,
This is fear.
Maybe there's frustration or anger at the body,
At limitations,
At how long this has been going on.
This is frustration.
This is anger.
Are there threads of stories woven through the knot?
Beliefs,
Judgments,
Harsh inner commentary.
Perhaps thoughts like,
I shouldn't be like this.
Or something is wrong with me.
Or this will never change.
Gently notice,
This is a story the mind is telling.
It's trying to help me.
Perhaps there is sadness or despair.
A thread of grief perhaps for what has been lost.
Or for the effort it takes just to get through the day.
Ah,
This is sadness.
There's no need to pull any of these threads away.
No need to analyze or fix.
Can you keep noticing,
Strand by strand?
With kind curiosity rather than force.
Perhaps as if you were holding this knot in your hands,
Looking closely without trying to undo it yet.
Now bringing in some self-compassion.
Imagine softening your grip on the knot.
Letting your hands relax.
Maybe even letting some warmth come into them.
You might even imagine that you're holding something precious.
Something tender that needs care rather than pressure.
And seeing how it is to allow these hands to gently offer kindness towards the whole knot,
The whole experience.
Not just the pain,
But the fear,
The frustration,
The exhaustion of carrying this knot.
You might silently say to yourself,
This is hard.
I'm allowed to feel this.
It's human to feel this.
I'm not failing.
If it feels right,
You might place a hand over your heart or over the area of pain and let that touch be a gesture of care.
Feel kindness emanating from your hand.
Notice what's happening with the knot.
You may find that some threads are loosening a little.
Not disappearing,
But no longer pulling so tightly against each other.
The physical sensation may have reduced,
May still be there,
But perhaps it's less fused with fear.
Less bound to self-judgment.
Less tangled in struggle.
Seeing if you can sense even a small increase in space around the pain,
Around your mind and body,
Around your experience.
You might allow your breath to move through that space.
Inhaling softness.
Exhaling,
Letting go.
Just a little.
And there's nothing you need to force.
Unknotting happens in its own time.
Your role is simply to stay present and to meet what's here with care.
Resting here for a few moments with awareness,
With kindness,
And perhaps with permission for things to be exactly as they are just for this moment.
And when you're ready,
Beginning to gently widen your attention,
Feeling the whole body again.
The contact with the ground.
The sounds around you.
Gently letting a little bit of light into your eyes if they've been closed.
And moving your body a little.
And as you go about your day,
Know that this capacity to notice,
To soften,
To be kind to this tangled knot is always a resource for you.
Thank you.
