Open awareness up to whatever you experience in the moment right now.
Just letting everything happen,
No need to try to pin anything down,
Or thinking about this or that.
Just being aware of whatever is.
Recognizing that there are many different phenomena happening at the various sense doors,
And that all of it is happening within your conscious awareness.
Just acknowledging this simple fact,
Not through thinking,
But through direct experience.
Opening awareness up to feeling the whole body.
Relaxing into just knowing your inner experience.
Noticing the general shape of the body.
Noticing how the hard bits are holding it up.
The skeleton,
See if you can feel the bones within.
Noticing how the soft bits allow the expansion of the lungs,
Allowing the breath to flow.
Some bits being pushed down,
Some bits expanding and contracting.
Just feeling all the stuff going on in there,
Most of it all on its own.
Relaxing awareness up to being aware of what is happening within your conscious awareness.
Some parts of the body feel comfortable or neutral.
Just noticing that,
Observing how that feels.
Other parts are uncomfortable or painful.
And in this exercise,
We'll focus on that.
Go to the most uncomfortable,
Painful or irritating place in your body and just stay with that.
Without trying to fix it or adjust it.
Just letting it be as it is.
Physical pain is painful.
The desire to get rid of it is also painful.
Physical pain is unavoidable.
As long as we have a body,
We'll have aches and pains.
The desire to get rid of it,
However,
Is something that can be let go.
And we'll work on that today.
Just staying with the pain,
Listening to it.
The experience of feeling pain without trying to get rid of it might be a new experience.
Just feeling how pain feels by itself.
Noticing the quality of it,
The throbbing,
The aching,
The stinging,
The itching.
Just experiencing it as another experience on the screen of awareness.
Curious about what makes this one so unwanted.
Having this welcoming attitude towards the pain,
Even if we might not like it.
When thoughts start spinning some story,
Just listening to that too.
Not necessarily too much to the words,
But just letting it be an experience present in awareness.
Somewhere in the background,
Like background music.
Let go of the story and return to the only place of power.
Let go of the story and return to the only place of power.
Finding the body to relax around the pain.
Let go of the story and return to the only place of power.
Let go of the story and return to the only place of power.
We might get in touch with the emotional aspect of the experience,
Which often is the bulk of the suffering connected with physical pain.
Usually some fear of death or injury.
If so,
We're just listening to that too.
Breathing in,
Feeling the sensations of pain.
Breathing out,
Releasing tensions around that pain.
Breathing in,
Listening to the pain's effect on the mind.
Breathing out,
Acknowledging the message that pain delivers.
Noticing that knowing remains just knowing.
Noticing that knowing remains just knowing.
Making sure you're really present,
It can be so easy to get ahead of oneself or to lag behind.
And yeah,
It is actually as paradoxical as that into mine too.
In reality,
It's not possible to be ahead or behind of oneself,
But it might feel that way all the same.
No matter how long your journey appears to be,
There is never more than this.
One step,
One breath,
One moment.
Now.
If the pain feels really unbearable and you decide to move,
Try to do so with awareness.
Do it out of compassion for the body and for yourself.
Practicing like this,
We can get a different perspective on pain.
In Thailand,
We had lots of opportunity to practice with pain.
Because there was so much discomfort inherent in the simple lifestyle.
Sitting on the floor all day,
Walking barefoot back and forth to the village every morning on rough paths and gravel for an hour or two.
The heat,
The humidity,
Meditating outside while being bitten by mosquitoes,
Sleeping on just a thin mat on the floor and so on.
I discovered that my mind could remain happy and at peace while the screen of awareness was filled with really painful sensations.
The content of the screen was disturbed,
But the screen itself was wholly unperturbed.
Fear of pain gets greatly reduced by these kinds of experiences.
Trying for yourself can be quite interesting.
What is it really about pain that make me desperate about getting away from it?
Versus pleasure that I'd be happy to keep going forever.
What is the relation between the body and pain?
Between pain and awareness?
What is the relationship between pain and pain?
What is the relationship between pain and awareness?
What is the relationship between pain and awareness?
What is the relationship between pain and awareness?
Just make sure that you don't do these kinds of exercises in a way that's sacrificing self-compassion on the altar.
Unless this practice is done within the space of self-compassion,
It's just self-mutilation and that is not beneficial.
What we want to develop is a wise way of dealing with pain,
Of living with this vulnerable,
Sensitive body.
What is the relationship between pain and awareness?
