The following recording is a guided meditation to help bring ease to chronic pain in areas of tension in the body.
Many times when we experience chronic stress or tension due to current or past trauma,
The body normalizes a state of tension,
Otherwise known as fight-flight-freeze response.
This meditation will help ease that neural pathway and encourage mindfulness through breathwork,
Gentle focus,
And release of tension in areas of the body in which chronic pain manifest.
Begin by finding a comfortable position,
Making sure that your back is well supported.
You may choose to be lying down or perhaps sitting in a comfortable position with your head supported.
Take a nice,
Slow,
Long,
Deep breath in.
Notice how you are feeling in this moment.
Without trying to change anything,
Simply observe your body and your mind.
Pain management begins with observation.
Notice where the most tension is stored in your body.
Find this area and visualize the shape this area possesses in your body.
It may possess a color,
A texture,
Or a recognizable form in which to describe the pain in this area of the body.
Now in contrast,
Find an area of your body that is most relaxed.
Take a deep breath in to that area and exhale,
Allowing your exhalation to be longer than your inhale.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Continue to breathe slowly and smoothly.
Now continue the pain management relaxation with a passive attitude of simply observing.
This mindful attention will help you not to try to make anything happen,
Not to try to make anything change.
Take a moment now to observe the state of your pain in this moment.
The way your body feels is always changing and always evolving,
Moving like a passing stream.
The way you feel is different from moment to moment.
A moment from now you will feel slightly different from the way you feel just now.
Simply observe this change.
Observe as each moment passes,
As your pain evolves during this meditation.
There is nothing you need to do in this moment.
Nothing you are responsible for except for accepting the moment just as it is.
Observe again your pain and notice that you can alter the pain even if ever so slightly.
See now if you are able to transform the feeling just a little.
As you focus in on this,
Picture the pain.
Notice again its exact location.
Now imagine that instead of pain,
This area feels cool,
Even a little cold.
Almost as if you have applied a comfortable and effective ice pack to this area.
Observe in your mind's eye this cool sensation on the area of pain.
Now notice this area beginning to normalize,
Feeling a little less cold and more similar to the rest of the way your body feels.
Now focus in on this area again and imagine the shape of the area and imagine that it is starting to change.
Maybe the area is becoming smaller.
Imagine this area of the body is instead being taken over by an area of the body that feels comfortable and calm.
Take a moment to find the most comfortable,
Most calm part of your body.
Breathe now into that area of comfort and calmness,
Noticing how soft and relaxed that area of the body is.
Imagine now that with each breath in,
That area of comfort and calm is growing larger while the area of pain is shrinking further into itself.
Feel the change as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
Now being deliberate,
We will count in for four,
Hold for two,
Out for six,
Helping you to truly massage and relax this area of the body.
So take a deep breath in for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold for one,
Two,
And breathe out,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Return now to a relaxed,
Non-deliberate breath.
With your exhale being longer,
You are slowing the nervous system,
Allowing for further relaxation of the body and further management of pain.
Continue to breathe slowly and rhythmically in and out,
And as you do so,
Feel your jaw becoming slack and relaxed.
Notice that your neck is softening.
Sense a state of release in your chest and your stomach.
Breathe into your legs and down into the bottoms of your feet,
Feeling all the tension of the body rooting down into the bottom of the feet and escaping out of the tips of your toes.
Keep an attitude of passive acceptance,
Just accepting the state you are in right now.
There is nothing you need to change,
Nothing you need to alter,
Just focusing on being peaceful and calm.
As you breathe in,
You will think of the word peace.
As you breathe out,
You will think of the word calm.
Breathe in peace,
Breathe out calm.
Breathe in peace,
Breathe out calm.
Continue to repeat the phrase peace and calm to yourself with your breath.
When your thoughts drift,
Allow your focus to gain attention on the words peace and calm.
If this is too difficult and thoughts continue to enter your mind,
Just observe the thoughts allowing them to float past you in a way as if being carried away on a big puffy cloud.
And again,
Turn your attention to your breath and the words peace and calm.
Take note of how your body feels now.
See how relaxed your muscles are.
Notice how calm your mind is.
Enjoy this feeling of relaxation for a few more moments now.
Notice how your body is only relaxed now through your pain and how it has changed form,
Intensity and shape,
Allowing for the greater space of calm and peace that you are now able to take over into your body.
Thank yourself for this powerful ability you have to change the form and the shape of pain at any time.
Coming back to this important breath work,
These mantras or repetition of words and sounds and notice how they elicit relief from pain and how this can be used anytime you are in need.
Thank you for your time in this meditation and may your day or your night be that of calm,
Relaxation and peace.
Namaste.
