When we're feeling poorly,
We often make ourselves feel worse by imagining we will always feel this way and worrying about how long our unpleasant feelings will last.
But the actual sensations of pain and illness are always changing,
Just like a stream that is always moving and flowing.
Rather than naming our experience pain or discomfort and thinking we know everything about it already and it will always be the same thing,
We can become curious about our actual experience of illness or pain in this moment.
We try to let go of our idea of pain as our enemy and our tendency to reject it,
To push it away immediately and instead we see what it might have to teach us.
You can do this meditation standing,
Seated or lying down,
Whichever feels most comfortable or eases your feelings of discomfort the most.
Begin by settling into your posture and feeling the space around you in the room.
Feel your connection to the earth,
Through your feet if you're standing or through your legs if you're sitting or through the back of your body if you're lying down.
It is helpful to gently close your eyes.
Bring your attention to your breath.
Notice the in-breath and the out-breath.
In,
Out.
Feel how it is always changing,
Always moving like waves on the ocean.
You could put your hands on your belly or on your chest to feel the movement.
Up and down,
In and out.
Up and down,
In and out.
Feel how your breath is always changing,
Always moving like waves on the ocean.
Even though you are always breathing,
No one breath is ever repeated.
Each breath is unique.
We will never experience it again and we've never experienced it before.
Notice how your breath is always moving and changing.
If possible,
Bring your awareness to a part of the body that is feeling okay right now.
A part of your body that's not hurting,
Not in pain or uncomfortable.
Notice what that feeling of being okay feels like.
Breathe into and out of the okay feeling,
Breathing in and out.
Breathe into and out of the okay feeling part of your body.
Even if sometimes one part of the body is hurting or not well,
There are usually other parts of the body that are feeling okay and it is good to notice that they are there.
We are not only our pain or our illness.
Sometimes we think pain is all there is and we focus on it,
Ignoring everything else.
But we are much more than this.
So notice as many places as you can in the body that are feeling okay right now or maybe even feeling good.
Maybe they are feeling relaxed or calm or at ease.
Now bring your attention to the part or parts of your body that are not feeling well.
See if you can soften around these feelings rather than harden against them.
Open to be with them.
Let them in.
Give them some space.
Breathe in deeply,
Breathe out slowly a few times.
Breathing in deep,
Breathing out slowly.
Experiment with putting your attention on areas that feel okay in your body and then switching to areas that are feeling pain.
Back and forth,
Back and forth.
Feel the part that feels okay and then feel the part that's in pain.
Doing this helps us remember that we are not just our pain.
Now bring awareness to the uncomfortable places and notice what the painful areas feel like.
Is the pain coming and going?
Does it stay in one place or does it move around?
Is it pulsing?
Is it a strong sensation or a more mild one?
Is it a dull ache that you feel in the background consistently for long periods of time?
Or does it come and go quickly?
If you had to assign a number to your pain,
From 1 being the least painful to 10 being the most painful,
What number would you give to your pain?
Is your pain always at this number or does it change,
Going up and down the scale?
Right now try to feel it in your body and describe it in as much detail to yourself as you can.
Are there things that help lessen your pain?
What does it feel like when it is less intense?
Is there lightness,
A feeling of more space,
Relaxation,
Softness,
Releasing?
Is there a feeling of calm or restfulness?
What words come up for you in your experience of pain getting better?
And what things make the pain worse?
And how would you describe this sensation of worsening as specifically as you can?
Is there heat,
Prickling,
Jabbing,
Achiness,
Cold,
Stiffness,
Tiredness,
Heaviness or pounding,
Cramping,
Gripping,
Tightness?
We can get curious about this experience of our pain.
Feel how your experience of discomfort or pain or illness is not solid and permanent.
Pain,
Just like the breath,
Is always changing.
Notice if your experience of pain may come in surges or in waves,
Just like the breath.
Check in to see if you are looking at your pain as an enemy,
As something bad,
And try to let that go.
Instead,
See if you can open to it with curiosity and interest.
What is it like now?
And now?
And now?
Now bring your attention back to the parts of your body that are feeling okay.
Notice the specific sensations of your okay feeling,
Body parts,
And what they feel like,
Or perhaps even the parts that feel good.
Now feel your breath in and out.
Feel your whole body and let your whole body rest and let go onto the support of the earth.
Excellent job!
You are very brave to explore the territory of your pain like this.
You are a peaceful warrior,
Brave enough to encounter something that is often quite difficult to be with,
And instead of making it into your enemy,
You turn it into a friend.
Give yourself a big hug to honor your effort and your practice.
Gently smile to yourself as you return your attention to the room around you.
