Yoga Nidra For Pain

This is a yoga nidra which is intended to support pain management. Can be used during pain or as a way to learn pain management techniques when you aren't in active pain. This can be done in any position. It is recommended to explore finding a position that enables the most possibility of ease in this moment.

Transcript

So,

This is an exercise in working with pain.

Pain can be very uncomfortable and something that we don't particularly desire.

As you begin,

Go ahead and find a position in which you feel as much ease as is possible.

You might be laying on your back or your stomach.

Could be on your side.

Maybe you're laying with the upper body elevated on a cushion.

Maybe you're curled up in a ball.

It's up to you.

So notice a position which supports as much ease as possible.

So we are embodied beings and we don't particularly enjoy discomfort.

We tend to resist and avoid and push away,

Hoping for it all just to go away.

Sometimes it can feel like when there's pain that that's all that there is.

That there's only pain,

Only discomfort.

Between the sensations and the resistance.

Or the feeling that perhaps there's not much we can do.

The whole experience can be quite consuming.

So you're embodied and you're in this position and pain might be present.

You have a body,

You have a mind,

You have a heart.

You have things and people that you love,

That you care about.

Who love you,

Who care about you.

Perhaps you can notice even that there's parts of your body which feel less pain,

Maybe even no pain.

Or even downright comfortable.

And because your awareness can notice all these things,

You might recognize that you are more than pain.

You are so much bigger than a moment of discomfort.

And a sensation that was unwanted.

So you're whole.

And there's many options to work with pain.

We're going to explore a few.

Pain is multifaceted,

Has different shapes,

Sensations and rhythms.

The good news is it's a signal which intends to protect.

Like,

If you were to touch a hot stove and there was no pain,

Well that wouldn't be very useful.

You'd burn your hand.

So pain is intending to give us information,

Intending to help us to take new actions.

And sometimes the signal keeps sending long after it's useful.

Long after you've done everything that you know to do.

And those are the moments when it can be hard to consider thanking your body.

Thanking the pain for all the ways that it has actually protected you in your life.

Luckily there are many ways that your brain can help to quiet the signal so that it feels less bothersome.

And we're going to come back to that.

So you're in this position,

Making contact with a surface,

Easing into the surface and you're breathing.

What you can do is take a moment to notice anywhere in your body that you might be tensing and allow it to soften.

You know how to do this.

You could allow or imagine the breath moving into that area.

You could tense the area even more and then release it.

So we'll take in just a moment a little journey through the body so that you can intentionally explore anywhere that you can soften.

So releasing muscles,

Releasing tension is a good way to start for reducing the discomfort of resistance to discomfort.

Now go ahead and start with the soles of the feet.

Whatever way you choose,

Tensing,

Releasing or breathing all the way in and then back out.

You could imagine that the breath flows out of the soles of the feet.

It's like it moves in and then back out of the soles of the feet so that they can completely relax.

They can completely let go.

So the soles of the feet,

The lower legs,

The upper legs,

Thighs,

Hips,

Pelvis,

The lower back,

Stomach,

The length of spine with the shoulder blades,

Left shoulder blade,

Right shoulder blade,

Space between the ribs,

Left side of ribs,

Right side of ribs,

Area between belly and chest,

In fact the whole chest,

The heart,

Space for the heart,

Both arms,

Both hands,

The shoulders,

The neck,

The muscles of the jaw,

The tongue,

The cheeks,

The forehead,

Whole brow and the scalp,

The top of the head,

Back of the whole head and the face and then the shoulders and the arms and the whole torso,

Making space in the torso,

The pelvis,

Buttocks,

Both legs,

The feet,

The toes and the whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body here and now.

You have the option to let go,

Releasing resistance to sensations that you experience.

You might have experienced this in the past.

Maybe you've jumped into a cold,

Refreshing pool and at first when you jump in there's the shock of cold and then before you know it the shock fades,

The cold fades until it feels actually quite comfortable.

The body relaxes and suddenly you notice that you're enjoying swimming.

You may have experienced this when taking off a bandaid.

You try to take a bandaid off slowly and you try to avoid feeling it's less comfortable than if you were to just embrace it and be done with it.

So too you have control over the level of comfort in your body through letting go.

You could notice what sensations are present in your body.

You could imagine the breath traveling into and back out of any areas of discomfort.

This might seem counterintuitive,

But just like diving into the cold pool,

You dive in with the breath and the mind,

You might find that the experience shifts to one that is more easeful.

So you can imagine the breath.

It could be a light or a color.

Something else soothing,

Pleasing could be a soothing stream of water.

Whatever you like.

So it travels in and out of the area of your body and the mind can travel in and out,

Moving closer to and then farther away.

Like with each breath,

You were an explorer or perhaps gently floating like a leaf into and out of areas that you might have wanted to avoid,

If you like.

Like immersing in a pool,

Noticing what it's like,

Not the thought of it,

Not the resistance to it.

What's it like?

And can you,

You can float in and out of that area comfortably so.

Another option is to notice what color your sensations are.

Like imagining that you're painting a picture.

Maybe when you first look at your large,

White,

Beautiful paper,

You notice a spot,

Little spot of not comfort.

And if you were to pick a color that you love and begin to paint or draw,

You could start anywhere on the page and in your imagination,

Beginning to add color.

You can add color,

You can add shapes,

You can add textures,

You can add whatever you like.

So that as you paint,

As you draw,

You slowly change and fill the page,

The space,

Moment by moment,

With other pleasant,

Pleasing colors,

Shapes.

So that with each moment,

The picture changes and it fills with all these things you love until it's really all that you notice,

How soothing it can be to see the colors you love.

And there's areas in your body that feel quite comfortable at this moment.

I don't know where it is to your body,

Could be your toes,

Maybe the soles of your feet,

Fingers,

Hands.

What you can do is find these places if you like,

Finding the places of comfort,

Beautiful colors in your body,

Noticing how nice it can be to feel good in your body.

No matter how large an area it is,

You could imagine as you notice these comfortable areas,

Allowing the sensations with each breath,

With each passing moment to gently spread through the body.

Feeling ease,

Spreading comfort through each cell,

Each part,

Each area of the body.

Feeling what that's like in your imagination,

In your experience of your body.

You may have seen sometime on TV,

Perhaps,

Or in real life,

A baby crying and a mother soothing the baby by gently holding it,

By speaking kindly,

Speaking soothing words to it.

It wouldn't do much good to yell at a crying baby or to think it's broken,

Even if you didn't understand why it was crying.

The baby would only cry louder.

But by caring for it,

By loving it,

By soothing it with kind words,

A gentle touch,

The baby slowly calms and quiets.

You can speak kind and encouraging words to your body in the same way.

You could imagine soothing the body,

Or like encouraging a friend,

Or comforting an animal that you care about.

You can speak kind and encouraging words.

This body that has gotten you through all of life up until now,

All the things it's let you do,

All the things it does with you.

You can find kind words.

I see you're doing the best you can.

Thank you.

Thank you for trying to take care of me,

For protecting me.

You're doing great.

I know you've got this.

It's going to be okay.

I'm here now.

I'm here now.

It's up to you what you say.

Could just be the words,

I love you.

Whatever you say,

Noticing how the body softens and is soothed as you gently encourage it.

The body and mind softening and soothing,

Soaking in the warmth of encouragement and love.

The mind is powerful.

It can tune certain things out.

Other people's voices or discomfort.

You've experienced this when you've maybe watched something funny on TV,

Not even noticed that someone was talking in the room,

Pleasantly in the background.

Or when reading a book and the experience of being so immersed in the story and in all the entertaining things that even the soothing sounds around you faded into the background.

It's a powerful capacity,

This shifting of attention.

And you can use it to tune out sensations and into anything you like.

You could tune into pleasant sensations in your body.

A nice memory.

A nice color.

Could be the soft feel of your breath.

So my question to you is what would you like to tune into in this moment?

Could be the spreading sense of ease in your body.

Could be something that you are grateful for.

Could even be imagining being somewhere you love.

In nature,

Maybe listening pleasantly to birds,

Musical sounds,

Laying comfortably in the sun.

Somewhere you like.

You could imagine laying in your bed,

Feeling at ease.

Sense of happiness and comfort.

You could be playing on the beach.

You can tune into anything you choose.

Noticing how comfortable you are.

How easy your breath comes and goes.

How much there is to enjoy and how whole you are.

That you are so much bigger than any experience you might have.

So take a moment now to just breathe and rest in this place wherever you've decided.

The flow of the breath.

Each breath a gentle wave as you rest in this place.

As you do,

You could gently count your breath or repeat a word with each in and with each out breath.

Could be as simple as breathing in,

Breathing out.

Or breathing in,

I feel peace.

Breathing out,

I let everything go.

Could be a phrase like,

With each in breath,

I am whole.

And with each out breath,

I am whole.

You can explore breathing however you like.

Feeling whatever is useful and soothing.

And hear that no matter what you feel,

Your body and your mind are able to create deep healing shifts at a cellular level.

Here you are so much bigger than anything that you might experience.

Here you are awareness in which all sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions can arise and dissolve.

It's here that worry,

Fear,

Frustration can be let go.

Can dissolve into the vastness of awareness which you are.

A kind and strong awareness.

And knowing that you've learned many different things in this recording which will be helpful to your body and your mind.

And you can return to this recording to enjoy it as many times as you like,

Again and again.

Knowing that you can do any of these things on your own with or without the recording and remembering them whenever it's most useful in your day or in your night.

But for now,

Trusting that you'll remember everything you need to,

Carrying sensations of ease,

Comfort,

And wholeness with you.

Back into everyday consciousness and knowing that it's time to come back.

Come back.

Reviews

Beautiful practice thank you!

A soothing, helpful practice. Thank you.

Thank you so very much. I just played this for my husband who was in a very serious biking accident and it was incredibly helpful and soothing.🙏🦋

Thank you so much. I felt my pain soften some and felt a sense of relaxation in areas where the pain was not present and then drifted into a much needed nap. Thank you so much. I will bookmark and listen to again.

Lovely. I went to sleep. Thank you.

Soothing voice, music, and guidance. Really eased my pain (post eye surgery) Thank you!

Wonderful caring and gentle voice and insights, thank you.

Thank you for the gift of your gentle voice and compassionate words. And thank you for creating space for me to give myself the gift of ease, rest, and wholeness. 🌱