Hello and welcome to the dissolving pain exercise.
Before we begin,
You'll want to pick a pain or discomfort that you wish to practice dissolving.
Physical pain is usually the easiest to work with,
But you can also dissolve emotional pain such as fear,
Anger,
Anxiety,
Or even the pain of grief and loss.
Typically,
The more strongly and clearly you can feel the pain,
The easier it will be to dissolve.
Alright,
So let's do it.
If you need to,
Get yourself to a quiet place where you won't be disturbed.
And remember that you want to maybe start this with the eyes closed,
Laying down,
Sitting down.
If you tend to fall asleep,
Sit up or stand up.
As you start to get better at this,
You might want to transition to eyes opened.
So here we go.
Let's dissolve your pain.
Can you imagine adopting a relaxed posture and moving as little as possible while keeping your eyes closed and staying silent?
Can you imagine feeling the space that the whole room occupies?
Can you imagine feeling the space that your whole body occupies?
Is it possible for you to imagine feeling the space of the whole room you are in and the space your body occupies at the same time?
Is it possible for you to imagine that as you inhale naturally,
Your breath fills the entire volume inside your body?
And can you imagine that as you exhale naturally and as your breath leaves your body,
Your body is left occupied only by space?
At the same time you stay aware of the space your body occupies,
Is it possible for you to imagine the space on all sides of your body simultaneously?
At the same time you are aware of the space inside and the space outside of your body,
Can you imagine feeling the volume of any pain or discomfort you may be experiencing?
Is it possible for you to imagine the length,
The width,
And the thickness of any pain or discomfort you may be feeling?
Can you imagine feeling the space between the center of your pain or discomfort and the back of your body?
Can you imagine feeling the space between the center of your pain and the sides of your body?
And can you imagine feeling the space between the center of your pain and the front of your body?
Is it possible for you to imagine feeling the space between the center of your pain and the crown of your head?
Can you imagine feeling the space between your pain and the space inside your ears?
Is it possible to imagine feeling the space between your pain and the space inside your mouth cheeks?
Can you imagine feeling the space between your pain and the space inside your throat?
And can you imagine feeling the space between your pain and the space inside your stomach?
Is it possible to imagine feeling the space between your pain and the space inside your chest?
Is it possible for you to imagine feeling the space between your pain and the closest part of your spine?
Can you imagine that as you inhale naturally,
Your breath flows through the heart of your pain?
Can you imagine that as you exhale naturally,
Your breath flows through the heart of your pain?
Is it possible for you to imagine that you are neither rejecting nor encouraging the feelings of pain?
Can you imagine fully accepting feeling the presence of your pain,
But neither encouraging nor avoiding it in any way?
Is it possible to imagine allowing your pain to diffuse in any direction and through any region of your body where it may naturally and effortlessly go?
Can you imagine feeling the surface area of your entire body and at the same time remain open to the feeling of your pain in the center of your awareness?
Can you imagine feeling that the boundaries of your body are gradually dissolving so that the space inside and the space outside your body becomes continuous?
Can you also imagine that the boundaries of your pain are also dissolving,
Allowing your pain to spread in every direction?
At the same time you're aware of your pain,
Is it possible for you to also attend equally to any other sensations and perceptions that are available?
Tastes,
Smells,
Thoughts,
Images,
Sounds,
Body feelings,
Or emotions,
Attending equally and simultaneously to the sensations,
To the three-dimensional space in which they exist.
Can you imagine that this three-dimensional space permeates and pervades all of your sensations and perceptions,
Including your pain?
Is it possible to imagine gently narrowing your attention and centering it upon the pain that you are experiencing?
Is it possible to imagine that this awareness,
Which is you,
Can intermingle with the pain at the body location where you perceive the pain to be,
Gently and effortlessly moving through the pain and also letting the pain spread through you?
As awareness and pain intermingle,
Is it possible for you to imagine that this awareness,
You,
Can dissolve right into the pain?
As you reach the heart of the pain,
Which is that part of the pain that is most intense,
Can you imagine gradually opening your awareness once again and allowing the pain to spread into and through your awareness,
And also experiencing all of the other sensations and perceptions that are available to you?
Can you imagine that in open-focus attention,
There need not be any movement?
Is it possible to imagine that open-focus is an effortless process of attention in which you can both rest and function,
Doing day-to-day activities?
Is it possible for you to narrow your attention and imagine that you can open yourself to the experience of pain more subtly and more completely?
And can you imagine allowing the pain to spread through this awareness space,
Which is you?
And can you imagine that as you begin to enter the pain,
You even more completely open yourself,
Making yourself more vulnerable to the experience of pain,
Surrendering yourself right into the heart and center of the pain?
And just as you experience the most intense part of this pain,
Can you imagine once again letting the pain spread through your body and through space?
Can you imagine opening your attention to include all that is you,
All sensations,
Perceptions,
Emotions,
And feelings,
Including the pain,
All simultaneously and equally,
And once again coming to rest in multi-sensory space?
Once again,
Can you imagine guiding your attention towards your pain?
And at the same time,
Can you imagine moving towards the pain and opening yourself more completely and more totally to the full experience of whatever pain you may encounter,
Surrendering yourself finally into the heart essence of the pain until,
Just as you experience the maximum pain,
You once again let your pain spread through your body?
And can you imagine allowing the pain to spread through your open attention to include also all other sensations and perceptions that are present,
Finally coming to rest once again in open focus?
Can you imagine repeating the cycle,
Starting in an open focus permeated by three-dimensional and multi-sensory space,
And narrowing your attention and directing it towards the pain?
Can you move towards the worst pain and fully experience all of your pain until you have experienced the most intense part of your pain,
Letting the pain spread through awareness space and then returning to open focus attention?
Can you imagine repeating the cycle at your own pace until your pain dissolves completely?
All right,
That's it.
We're at the end of our Dissolving Pain Guided Meditation.
I think you should experience some results right away.
You may reuse this as many times as you need until you can get your pain to completely dissolve.
For now,
Open your eyes and carefully and gently re-enter back into the world.
Congratulations,
You're well on your way to dissolving pain.
