Finding A Way Through Physical And Emotional Discomfort

When we are challenged with pain, we often end up increasing suffering due to pushing it away. With this meditation you will be guided to get up close to your pain by being with it fully moment to moment. Observing physical or emotional pain may allow you to see the movement, changes and shifts that occur beneath your awareness. When getting up close and inviting the discomfort versus resisting you may even experience the pain abate.

Transcript

Okay,

So this is a meditation on being with physical and emotional pain or discomfort.

So I invite you to find your seat if you're in a chair,

Having both feet on the floor.

It might be helpful sometimes to have a pillow or a cushion underneath your feet to help with the hips.

So this is an awake seat if you're on the floor,

On a cushion or if you're lying down finding a position that you can hold for some time because this meditation is about sitting with the discomfort before trying to correct or fix things right away.

We're always looking to be somewhere else and this is a practice of being with some uncomfortable things.

So in just a few moments here I'm going to ring the bell and then this meditation will end with the bell.

So again find your seat if you can get maybe 10% more comfortable.

I invite you now to bring your awareness to the breath.

And so the breath is going to act as our anchor.

It's this thing that's always there for us,

Guides us back during rough waters or lazy waters,

Dangerous waters,

Kind of holding this boat or this critter of yourself in place.

And so when mind goes off over and over,

Coming back to the breath,

Finding that still point.

And you might notice the breath through your nostrils,

Maybe experiencing the coolness on an inhale and possibly some warmth on the exhale.

Just noting that texture of your breath.

You might also find the breath with the movement of the body.

So possibly noting the chest,

Abdomen,

Shoulders rising and falling with each breath.

Maybe even experiencing the expansion of the ribs,

Experiencing the feeling of clothing on your skin with the breath.

And when thought ventures in,

Runs in,

Saunters in,

Again that reminder of just saying hello to it,

We're not pushing it away,

We're saying hello.

Right now I'm going to just be with the breath.

So coming back to this breath over and over,

Maybe a hundred times or more if you need.

Again,

There's no right or wrong,

Nothing to be discouraged about when those thoughts come in.

Those are actually the moments of kind of waking up.

Almost kind of a Hallelujah moment,

I became aware.

And then coming back to your breath.

You might note yourself resisting thoughts or experiences.

And instead I invite you to say hello to them.

To do lists might be going through your mind,

Maybe feeling hungry,

Maybe rehashing a conversation.

And being aware that you're going to have plenty of time to think about all of those things.

Right now I invite you to come right back home to your breath,

To your anchor.

And now I invite you to do a kind of simple scan of the body,

Noting any areas of tightness,

Comfort,

Maybe pain.

Maybe there's an emotional ache that you're feeling in your body.

And this could be maybe a tightness in the chest,

Clenching of jaw,

Headache.

Also noting any sensations in the forehead,

Temples,

Jaw,

Neck,

Shoulders,

Chest,

Upper back,

Middle back,

Lower back,

Torso,

The belly area.

Maybe noticing any sensations in the hips or thighs,

Knees,

Lower legs,

Feet.

Maybe tightness in forearms or hands.

And again,

We're not trying to change it.

I'm inviting you to just venture in a bit deeper to get to know it.

So inviting you to look at this body sitting here with curiosity versus pushing it away.

And if there's many areas that are uncomfortable or feeling maybe a bit wonky,

Bringing breath to those spaces.

And then as the next one comes up,

Bringing breath to that.

And so just staying with it as long as you feel the need.

And it may not change the pain.

It may not change the sensation.

But it helps us get to know it a bit better.

And after you've located some of these sensations,

Feelings,

Discomforts,

I next invite you to take a close look at it.

So noticing maybe is there a particular sensation?

Is it sharp?

Is it nagging?

Is it dull?

Does it pulsate?

Is there a tingle?

Is there movement to the pain?

Does it kind of come and go?

And where would you put the pain,

The sensation of pain,

Recalling the worst pain you've ever had to no pain at all?

And again,

There's no right or wrong answer with any of this.

You're just becoming curious without judgment,

Without pushing away.

And then maybe noting how deep or thick is the pain?

Does it go all the way through to the bone to the other side?

Or is it in the first quarter inch or inch below the skin?

And then if another area comes up or an emotion that feels painful,

It's okay to bring your attention to that,

Your curiosity.

Then coming back whenever you want.

And then also a reminder that if there is a discomfort that just is gripping and it just seems to keep taking your attention away from the meditation,

It is okay to adjust.

And this is a mindful,

Purposeful,

Intentional adjustment.

So moving the body to maybe,

Maybe it won't get rid of the pain,

But it might decrease it a little bit so that you can be more in the moment.

You might notice thoughts creep in of,

Oh,

I don't like this.

How long will this last?

Will this always be here?

And again,

When we enter into that resistance,

We create suffering.

And so instead I invite you to come right back and sit with the pain as it is in this moment.

And it is a universal truth that everything changes and that this pain will change too,

Maybe in the timeframe that we want,

But it will change.

And this is some time to investigate and watch maybe even the minute tiny changes that occur from moment to moment or minute to minute.

So I'm going to give you some time here to notice where there might be the pulls,

The aches,

The pain,

The sharpness,

And to sit with it,

Get to know it.

Then again,

When thinking comes in,

Bringing yourself back to the breath,

Bringing your breath to these spaces.

Using the breath as your anchor.

Here it is.

While you're sitting with this pain,

You might note that other parts of the body might be resisting the pain or the sensation.

So maybe thighs tighten or shoulders start to creep up.

Again,

Reminding yourself,

No,

I'm going to just sit with it.

I'm going to be with it.

Again coming back to the sensation.

And again,

At times you might note that the sensation decreases or it sometimes even goes away.

So one might notice an itch and when you sit with the itch,

The mind sometimes gets bored with it and goes on to something else.

And so if that happens,

It's okay.

Just come back to the breath and then see what else arises that might need your mindful attention,

Your mindful curiosity.

Good.

.

.

If the pain is heart pain or an emotional type of pain,

Allow yourself to feel it.

This can be hard because these things are uncomfortable.

And I encourage you to look at the physical sensation of the emotional pain versus the thought form of the pain,

Of the discomfort.

You might chase it,

It might move,

Maybe it's a tightness in the shoulders or a clenching in the gut.

And then we can also do the same with physical pain.

When I have a headache,

I will do meditations on chasing the pain,

Following it.

And one can become quite familiar with how it isn't static often.

There's this movement or pulsation.

And you're sitting with it moment to moment.

And this can help bring greater awareness to that this does change,

Sometimes even moment to moment the emotional or physical pain is moving.

.

Noticing if mind has drifted off somewhere else or is creating a story about something else.

And if that is happening,

It's probably very likely that this is going to happen.

You might note how the physical body is responding to these thoughts.

So is the thinking of getting away from the discomfort,

Not wanting to feel it?

Or has the sensation changed,

Moved?

So maybe mind has lost some interest.

Instead,

Come back,

Doing a scan,

Noticing what might need attention,

What might need my curiosity.

And if there's no challenging or difficult sensation,

Just sitting with that breath then,

Having the breath be that focal point,

That anchor.

Maybe even luxuriating in the breath,

Reminding yourself there's nothing else to do right now.

It's this opportunity to be in this moment in life just as it is right now,

Whether it's comfortable or uncomfortable or dull or exciting.

It's allowing yourself to be here right now.

In a few moments,

I'm going to be ringing the bell,

Which brings this meditation to an end.

And before I do that,

Offering yourself some gratitude for having courage to be with some very difficult things,

Things often we are running away from,

Trying to ignore,

And this takes great courage to be with difficult things.

I'm thanking your mind and body for patience,

For being with some of this tough stuff.

And then when the bell rings,

Encouraging you to not jolt eyes open if eyes are closed,

But instead move into this outer world with a bit more ease,

Maybe beginning to become aware of your surroundings,

Sounds around you,

Maybe feeling hands touching lap or chair,

Feet on the floor.

And then in your time,

Opening your eyes,

And if you choose to sit for more time,

I encourage you to do that.

The bell rings.

The bell rings.

The bell rings.

Reviews

I got so annoyed with with the microphone falling that I got an even more intense tummy ache initially. Then, this became part of the practice of allowing that annoyance as something to be observed and it helped me strengthen the learnings of this meditation. Impressive, I absolutely loved it and learned so much from it.

Very recommended! Take any discomfort as part of the practice ☁️☁️

Love your voice, it was what I needed at the exact time I need it💝
Namaste 🙏🏼