Welcome to this guided practice for a symptom flare-up.
If you're here,
You're probably dealing with some challenging symptoms.
So let's dive right into it.
First,
Take three slow,
Deep,
Soothing breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth,
Feeling with each exhalation,
The body loosening,
Relaxing,
And letting go,
Even just a little bit.
I invite you to put your hand over your heart.
And first,
Just feel the warmth of your hand on your chest over your heart,
And give yourself some compassion.
You can say to yourself,
This is really challenging right now,
And that's okay.
This is really hard right now,
And I'm going to get through it.
I've been here before,
And I've been able to get out.
Whatever phrases come to mind that you want to provide yourself,
Or a place of compassion and care,
Just do that now.
Notice as you give yourself these phrases,
Your body can just soften a little.
It doesn't need to hold as much tension.
Your body,
Your mind,
Can become just one percent more at ease.
Go ahead and let your hand return to a comfortable position.
And bring your focus to a part of the body that feels good,
Or at least neutral.
It might be a tingling in your hands or your feet.
It might be a feeling of emptiness in your belly or a shoulder.
Just wherever you feel a positive or neutral sensation,
Allow your attention to dwell there for a moment.
And notice how you don't need to make anything happen to absorb that positive or neutral sensation.
It is just happening on its own.
And making more and more room for that positive or neutral sensation.
Allowing it to be present,
Even if your symptoms are strong right now.
You can do this.
Just allowing yourself to absorb this positive or neutral sensation in your body.
And as you do that,
You might notice your jaw relaxing slightly.
Maybe a deeper breath is returning to your body.
Maybe there's a softening of your belly.
Really allowing yourself to receive that pleasant sensation.
And the beautiful thing is you don't need to do anything for that to happen.
And when you're ready,
We're going to move our attention from that pleasant or neutral sensation into the part of the body where we're having some symptoms.
And maintaining that same awareness,
That receptivity,
And to the extent that you're able,
Can you simply receive these challenging sensations.
And if at any point the sensations get too overwhelming,
Bring your attention back to the positive or neutral sensation.
As you allow yourself to just be open to what your body is feeling,
Notice that you actually have a strong capacity to be with what is in your body.
Bringing this receptive quality to your attention.
Almost as if these symptoms are like a screaming toddler getting your attention.
Allow yourself to receive without resistance,
Without fighting,
Just receiving.
Without being drawn into the shouting match or becoming overwhelmed.
Remembering that you've been here before and this,
Like all sensations,
Is temporary.
That this can and will change.
And the more ease you bring to these sensations,
The more you are teaching your brain that you're safe,
The more your system will soften and release.
We can't always change our symptoms,
But we can always change our relationship with them.
To drop resistance,
To drop effort.
And see the vast capacity we have to be with whatever challenge we're facing.
In these last few moments of the meditation,
I invite you to zoom out with your attention and just take in the whole body.
Noticing how,
Yes,
There might be areas of pain or tension,
But there are also pleasant sensations.
There are also neutral sensations.
Can you allow your awareness to take in the entire mosaic?
Not just a tiny corner of the painting.
And as you allow yourself to take in all of your sensations,
Giving yourself some credit for not avoiding or not forcing,
Just being with your experience right now.
And recognizing that as you do this,
You are changing the trajectory of your symptoms.
Instead of anger or frustration or fear,
You're meeting yourself and these sensations with compassion,
With bravery and courage.
And that this,
In time,
Will change your experience.
And once again,
Putting a hand over your heart and taking a big,
Deep breath in and letting it go with a sigh.
Allowing,
In your own time,
Your eyes to open and coming back into the space around you.
Really giving yourself credit for taking a moment for yourself and being with whatever you're experiencing.
This will change.
You're going to be okay.
I wish you the very best of the rest of your day or evening.
