Deep Pain Relief
A slow, gentle meditation to help you release and soften any pain you may be carrying in your body. Whether it's back or neck pain, chronic or acute pain, menstrual cramps, pain in your digestive system, or a headache, this technique will help you find some relief in just over twenty minutes. Perfect to practice before bed.
Transcript
Hi,
Hello and welcome to this body scan for pain management.
My name is Julie and I'll be your guide today.
I've been in chronic pain since I was 12 and over the years I've learned some techniques to help me deal with this pain and live a happy,
Soft life with it.
This is one of those techniques.
For the next little while,
Please make sure that you won't be distracted by anyone or any nearby device.
Turn them off,
Turn them away,
Turn them on silent.
This time,
Right here,
Is very important for you.
Make sure you're wearing comfortable clothes that don't pinch you in around the waist,
So you can take full and easy breaths.
Find as comfortable a position as is manageable for you today,
With any pillows and blankets that you would need or like to have around.
You can do this exercise sitting or lying down,
Whatever works best for you today.
This time,
Right now,
Is entirely yours and your comfort is very important.
This moment of rest and relaxation is just for you,
To nourish you from the inside out.
You have nowhere to be and nowhere to go.
There is nothing to do,
There is nothing to think,
There is no need even to understand.
You can bring some awareness to the fact that each passing moment is a part of your life.
It is here and it is now and then it goes.
All human beings,
And especially humans who are in pain,
Have a tendency to want things to be different from how they are right now.
In this moment,
Let's do our best to leave that tendency,
That desire behind and focus on the here and now,
Allowing things to be exactly as they are.
We won't try to change anything but let ourselves be exactly how we are in this very moment.
If you haven't already,
You can gently let your eyes close.
If you like,
You can take a moment to become aware of the length of your body.
How long your body is.
Sense,
From the top of your hand to your heels,
All that length.
Allow yourself to take up space today.
Feel that long line from the top of your hand to the soles of your feet and see if you can play with your breath in this space.
See if you can let your breath travel freely along the entire length of your body,
Up and down,
With the in and the out breath.
Sense your body in space.
Then,
If you like,
You can become aware of your width.
The space between the tip of your left shoulder and the tip of your right shoulder.
The space between the elbows,
Between the hips,
The splay of the toes.
Allow yourself to take up space.
See if you can let your breath travel freely between both shoulders,
Both elbows,
Both hips and all of your toes.
Sense your body in space.
Then,
If you like,
You can pay attention to the depth of your body,
From the tip of your nose to the back of the skull.
The space between the nipples and the back of the shoulder blades.
All the space in the belly.
And let's please be gentle with our bellies here.
We spend a lot of time making them as small as possible,
Sucking them in,
Making ourselves smaller.
See if you can allow the breath to take up all the available space in the belly.
See if you can let it expand freely.
Let it be soft.
Allow yourself to take up space.
Allow yourself to take up time.
This time,
Right now,
Is entirely yours.
Sense your body in space.
It's okay if this is a little difficult or emotional right now.
Totally okay.
You are safe with me.
You are allowed to take up space and you are allowed to feel whatever it is that you are feeling in this moment.
We'll pay some more attention to the body.
Feel into your arms.
Let them hang heavy by your sides.
Notice what your fingertips are touching right now.
Can you feel your thumbs in particular?
How about your pointer fingers?
Sense what they are touching.
And your middle fingers.
Now feel what your ring fingers are touching and the pinkies.
Become aware of your breathing now.
Just try to follow its movement without trying to change the breath.
Bring awareness to your belly and just observe your belly rising and falling with your breath.
Your belly expands and contracts when you breathe.
Just like a tiny baby when they breathe,
All natural,
All automatic.
Now become aware of your toes.
Notice each one of your toes.
What do they feel like?
What are they touching?
I wonder if you can imagine that when you breathe in,
Your breath can travel all the way down to your toes.
Breathe in and breathe down to your toes.
Imagine on the out-breath,
Allow the entirety of your legs to become very deeply relaxed.
Now imagine this for your fingertips.
As you breathe in,
Feel your breath traveling all the way to each fingertip.
And on the out-breath,
The entirety of your arms become so very,
Very relaxed.
Nice.
Feeling again the gentle rise and fall of your belly,
Up and down,
Expanding and contracting.
Now use that beautiful imagination to see your in-breath going all the way up to the top of your head.
And on the out-breath,
Your hand becomes more relaxed than it has been all day.
Feel all the way into the tiny nooks and corners of your brain.
And on the exhale,
Your mind becomes more open and more relaxed than it has ever been before.
Very good.
Now if it feels safe for you to do so,
Become aware of the area in your body that is in pain.
It may be a little difficult but let's try to make some space for this experience.
Now use your imagination to send your breath to this painful area of your body.
As you breathe in,
Feel your breath traveling all the way to this tender little spot.
And as you breathe out,
Feel the muscles around it become a little more relaxed.
If you like,
You can do that again.
Breathe into the painful place and as you breathe out,
Feel the muscles just relax that little bit more.
And again,
If you like,
Breathe into the pain and as you breathe out,
Feel the fibers of the muscles relax.
Breathe into the pain and as you breathe out,
Imagine just one more cell around the pain relaxing.
Now let your awareness become soft.
Let it rest on your body,
On your skin,
On your breath,
Whatever feels more natural for you.
Allow yourself to relax for the next couple of moments.
Allow yourself to just be.
You've worked hard.
For the next couple of moments,
You have nowhere to be and nowhere to go.
There is nothing to do.
There is nothing to think.
There is no need even to understand.
Allow yourself to just be.
When you're ready,
Begin to deepen the breath.
If you like,
You can let out some sound when you breathe out.
Really let something go when you breathe out.
Gently,
Allow yourself to become aware of your surroundings and aware of the present moment.
If you like,
You can start to bring some movement in your body.
Roll your eyes up and down,
Move your lips from left to right.
Wiggle and open your toes and your fingers.
Open and close your hands.
Roll your ankles and your wrists.
In your own time,
Open your eyes and before you get up to continue your day or go to sleep,
Give some gratitude to yourself.
Some gratitude for the experience that you gave yourself just now.
Have a nice day and remember to be soft with yourself.
