Somatic Tracking For Chronic Pain

Somatic tracking for chronic pain management. Used to cultivate messages of safety towards our pain. Brain training to respond to less comfortable sensations with loving kindness rather than with fear.

Transcript

Hello.

Today we will be doing somatic tracking in which we'll be looking at a less comfortable sensation in the body with a mindset of safety and curiosity rather than judgment and fear.

Because often these sensations are fueled and intensified when we are not feeling safe and when we are trying to get rid of them or fearing them.

So instead today we're going to look at these sensations with a mindset of safety and curiosity.

So go ahead and take a comfortable seat,

Lie down or any position that is going to be the most comfortable to you.

As long as your back is straight.

And we're going to begin by taking a few conscious breaths.

As we breathe in we can think deep and as we exhale think slow.

Deep and slow.

Breathing deep into the belly and breathing slowly out.

Take a few more cycles on your own as we slow down the breath and slow down the mind.

And as we continue to breathe we can think I am safe.

Maybe even bringing your hands to your heart center on your chest.

Feeling the warmth of your chest as you tell yourself you are safe in this moment.

You are safe.

And we can work with whatever we are feeling and don't have to hide away.

And finally let's see if we can melt away any other tension that we are feeling.

So if you are nervous or feeling tension in the forehead or eyes just breathe into those areas and on your exhale just soften.

So that we can concentrate on that area that is giving you the most uncomfortable of sensations.

So as we begin somatic tracking or getting in touch with the sensations in our body we must remember to come to that area and develop and train our brains to know that we are safe.

We are not in danger.

We are simply here to explore not to get rid of the sensation but simply to change our mindset by thinking around that sensation.

So taking it slow go to where you have that less comfortable sensation in your body.

And rather than tensing up right away just breathe.

Imagine breathing into that area of sensation.

And if that sensation is just too strong to have that mindset of safety and curiosity go to the outside of that pain or the borders.

So if you are feeling the sensation in your head maybe going to your neck or shoulders or a point where you can feel it but not be overwhelmed by it.

And breathe into that space as well.

And going a little deeper now notice the sensation and notice how it feels.

So giving it a label of throbbing or burning,

Tingly and not tensing when you are giving them these labels just acknowledging that this is how it feels right now.

And thinking of maybe a burning sensation rather than thinking burning just think heat.

Like the sensation of dipping your feet into a nice hot tub or a bubble bath and give heat a pleasant connotation.

Or maybe instead of a throbbing sensation think of it as a massaging sensation.

Like you are at a massage and it's gently being pressed in a needed and relaxing way.

And again know that you are safe.

You are simply exploring the sensation and being curious without trying to fix anything.

And continue to breathe noticing if your sensation has a particular color.

Notice if it has a shape is it round or jagged,

Smooth edges or jagged.

Just notice that too.

When you are noticing just notice with that sense of safety that no matter how it feels or what it looks like that you are safe.

I am safe.

Going back once more to how it feels.

And really try and pinpoint where it is in your body.

Sometimes the sensation is hard to identify an exact spot and sometimes it moves around.

Sometimes it may feel tingly and hard to identify where it is.

And this is a good sign because this means that nothing is wrong with you.

It's simply a message from your body per se.

And so notice where the sensation is right now.

Look deep can you pinpoint one spot you feel that sensation.

And notice the color and notice the shape.

And maybe the size is changing as you bring awareness to the sensation maybe it's shrinking,

Maybe it's moving.

If it's getting larger that's okay too.

But the main point is that reminder to our bodies,

Our brain,

The message of safety.

You're okay though you might not feel okay knowing that you are safe.

We're in this together,

This shared humanity of the human experience.

And the final part of our somatic training is going to an area in our body that does feel comfortable.

Maybe going to your hands,

Feeling the gentle tingling or heat in the hands or feet anywhere that you're feeling comfortable,

Safe.

And we're just going to hang out there,

Breathe and just notice the sensations,

The good sensations.

And then bringing our awareness back and noticing if there's been any changes with our less comfortable sensations.

Has there been a slight movement,

A slight change of color or shape?

Reminding yourself you're safe.

We are training our brains as we become aware of these sensations without judgment,

Easing the fear which is such an important step in somatic tracking.

Let's come back to our whole body and our whole body breathing.

So breathing deep and slow,

Back to the sensations of your breath.

Breathing three slow breaths.

Slowly coming back to consciousness.

And just remember that this meditation is training our brains to feel safe with whatever is.

So don't be hard on yourself if you're experiencing the same amount of sensations or even if it increased.

You're bringing awareness in a loving way with compassion.

And that's the most important thing right now that we can tell our brain.

So please do this practice regularly as we are training our brain to feel safe.

Thank you for joining me.

.

Reviews

Holy crap that was lovely. Pretty much the perfect somatic tracking exercise 🤩

A way to be with and aware of less comfortable sensations.

A hopeful way to look at pain. Thank you. I’m curious how you might reframe “ache.

Thank you so very much for this incredibly helpful and healing meditation that is teaching me how to be with my uncomfortable and painful sensations in a helpful and loving way. Not just during this
wonderful meditation but throughout my day, I am so grateful to you 💚🙏🏽

Very good practice. Calm, comforting guiding voice. I’ll use this again, thank you.
Edit: I’ve been using this regularly for headaches and migraines and it truly helps me relax and feel less on edge. The pain often fades to a tolerable level too. So grateful for this practice!

Soothing with important messages for chronic pain.

I am a relative newcomer to meditation- an extremely difficult diagnosis involving unbearable nerve pain and extreme psychological anxiety in coping with it- brought me here. Somatic tracking is new to me, and this feels so timely. The concept presented here that I Am Safe and also that I can allow myself to not be gripped by the Fear (terror) of the physical pain is very powerful (I am just realizing!!!) Though medication is currently keeping pain at bay, I will return often to this meditation to better equip and support myself in the event it returns, which is not unlikely, unfortunately. I love the teacher’s voice, so soothing and reassuring in his message. Thank you thank you 🙏🏻❤️

Thank you. This is so helpful and your voice very calming.

This was fantastic and helped me to make peace with my pain. I felt safe and my pain eased quite significantly. Thank you!

His intention setting of training ourself to feel safe was a very helpful tool during the practice. It was very helpful to start and come back to that idea. Thank you!

Thank you very much for this great practice and for dedicating time to us, chronic pain suffereres. It's been briliant and I'll come back to it often. Thank you 🙌💙

This was fantastic, just what I've been looking for to increase my awareness and acceptance of my pain 👌

Wonderful meditation! I use it often amd it’s really helpful for my TMS type pain 💙

You have such a wonderful presence, and soothing voice. Thank you I really needed that. I don’t often feel safe in my body from a young age so over the years I’ve been working on creating safety. This was effective and concise. Blessings ✨

Observe your pain with curiosity while rewiring your brain to feel safe. This is an excellent session that complements mind-body work taught by Dr. Sarno, Alan Gordon, etc. Thank you for this meditation!

Thank you Colin ♥️there aren’t a lot of somatic meditations specifically for tracking pain on here so I find this one super supportive & Wud love to hear more ☺️ Big love from Ireland ☘️x

Very helpful thank you 🙏
I get facial pressure and pain thanks to intense brain fog and chronic fatigue. It almost makes it worse to try and imagine the shape and colour but it does ease a little if I sit with it ⛅

This one is really helpful. Thanks. If I may add a request, I would like more time/space in between your guidance. I feel like I am lisneting to you talking more than going inwards at times. Thanks 😊

Lovely soothing words and voice,thank you so much. I’ll be doing this often 🙏🏻😊

Besides feeling Safe by the contence of what you are saying...it is your soothing voice which adds to the feeling. Thank you! ❤️🙏