Pain and Discomfort Meditation

This meditation is designed to help you sit with physical pain or discomfort. Often, this can create a different relationship with pain that allows some relief.

Transcript

Get into your favorite meditation posture.

Focus on your breath.

Take a few deep breaths and really pay attention to where your breath stops.

You can try to notice the feeling of the air passing by your nostrils,

Down your throat.

Noticing the coolness of the air when you inhale compared to the warmth of the air when you exhale.

Or you can notice the rise and fall of your body with every inhale and exhale.

In your throat,

Chest,

Or belly.

For just a moment I'd like you to try and take control of your breath and see if you can move it as deep into your belly as possible.

With each inhale,

Breathing deeply into your belly,

Inflating it like a balloon.

Releasing every drop of that air when you exhale.

Take at least three to five of these deep belly breaths.

Then I'd like you to take a moment to notice where you feel the day today.

Where do you feel the weight of the day today in your body?

Starting to bring your attention into your body and noticing anywhere that you feel heaviness or that you might call your center of feel today.

Next I'd like you to start to focus on the area of your body where you feel pain or discomfort.

If it is too much to focus straight on the most painful or uncomfortable area,

Start at the periphery of the painful or uncomfortable area and move inward.

Just to the point that you think that you can handle it.

You think you can sit with that pain or discomfort just for a little while.

Take a moment to just notice how it makes you feel even to get close to the pain.

And have an attitude of wanting to explore it,

Wanting to get near it.

Then I'd like you to imagine that with every breath you take,

You inhale pure healing,

Cleaning white light.

Imagine that pure healing,

Soothing white light traveling through your nostrils or mouth,

Down your throat,

And then it keeps traveling through your blood and your cells to the area of your body that feels pain or discomfort.

You can imagine that with each inhale this uncomfortable painful part of your body relaxes just the tiniest bit.

That each time it is washed in this pure white light,

It feels just the slightest bit of ease.

And so with each inhale,

Imagine that your body is able to let go of the pain or discomfort just the littlest bit more and the littlest bit more.

Repeat like this for a few moments,

Taking in that pure white light.

And then for a few moments,

I'd like to imagine that on each exhale you're able to gather up a bit of that pain or discomfort.

You ball it up in your body.

It exists as just black light smoke that you're able to gather around and release with each exhale.

So on each inhale,

Continue to inhale the pure white cleansing healing light,

Sending it to this place in your body.

And with each exhale,

You're taking some of that pain and discomfort in the form of black smoke and just releasing it,

Bringing it out into the air knowing it won't hurt anything.

It won't harm anything.

You can just let it go.

Next,

I would like you to gently bring your attention back to the place in your body that feels the most pain or discomfort.

Being very kind and gentle with yourself through this process.

Don't push or force yourself to fixate on this place in your body,

But invite yourself to explore the sensation that sits in the space in your body.

This space in your body is experiencing.

Again,

If you have trouble focusing directly on the most painful or uncomfortable place,

Just imagine getting as close to it as you feel you can manage.

Imagine that this place in your body really just wants to help you understand how it is feeling,

What it has been experiencing.

It wants you to really listen to it,

To just sit and be with it so it can feel understood.

That its suffering can feel understood.

If you like,

You can even rest a hand over this place on your body where you're feeling the pain or discomfort.

Imagine for a moment sending love and kindness through your hand to this place in your body.

Imagine your hand as the most compassionate friend just there to be with this feeling right now.

To sincerely and compassionately listen to it.

With that,

Start to shift your attention to the actual physical sensations you're experiencing in the space in your body.

How might a poet describe this sensation?

What color is the sensation of pain or discomfort?

Can you tell what shape it might be?

Does it have a texture?

Is it bold and pushy?

Or is it dull and probing?

Is it thin and wispy or does it prickle?

Does it feel like static or is it smooth?

Does it flow within you like a liquid or does it sit heavy and dense?

Does it have a sound?

What other attributes or details would you use to describe this sensation?

Just the physical sensation itself.

Take a few moments to be with that physical sensation and describe it the way a poet might.

Now that you're really clear on the physical sensation itself,

How it actually feels,

How it feels in your body and how your body might describe it.

Ask your body how it feels about this sensation.

Do you notice if you are attached to the feeling,

Trying to hold on to it for whatever reason?

Do you notice yourself averse to it?

Trying to fight it,

Resist it,

Or wish it away.

Is there anything good about this feeling?

What might be good about the way this feels?

Is there anything it can teach you about yourself?

Does it remind you of anything?

Do you have any words or images that seem to pop into your mind when you focus on it,

Associating the feeling with something?

Is there anything else you notice that's distinct from the physical sensation itself?

Feelings about the sensation layered on top of that physical sensation that you have about that physical sensation.

Can you feel the difference between the two?

What is the difference between the two?

Now I'd like you to ask this pain and discomfort a question.

I'd like you to try and listen to whatever arises.

Ask it,

What is needed to make peace with this feeling right here,

Right now?

Ask the pain or discomfort,

What can I do to make friends with you right now?

And see if anything comes up.

Now imagine yourself doing whatever the space in your body says that it needs.

Notice how it feels to actually take care of it,

To fulfill that wish.

If it needs to feel held,

Hold it.

If it just needs some quiet,

Give it space.

If it needs you to eat something,

Imagine doing that.

If it needs air,

Breathe into it.

For a few moments,

Recognize this sensation as a familiar old friend and give it what it needs.

And notice how that feels.

To conclude,

I invite you to take a few more moments to breathe in more of that healing white light,

Sending it to the space in your body.

And to exhale what you can gather of that pain or discomfort as black smoke.

Take a few moments to notice any ease,

Large or small,

That exists with you now.

Anything that has changed or remained the same through this meditation.

And notice how you feel about this experience,

Any of the changes you might feel about any lack of change.

You can finish with the question,

What do I now know?

What did I learn about myself,

How I treat myself and my body and this feeling through this meditative experience?

You can continue to think about the answer to this question as you hear the chime of the meditation bells.

At the end of the third bell,

You can open your eyes and come back to the room.

And you can continue to think about the answer to this question as you hear the chime of the meditative experience.

Reviews

THIS was DEEP! I cannot wait to return to it —and to journal and make art with it!

Very effective for physical pain. Thank you so much... the questioning led me straight to that which was unrealized. Our bodies and the pain they harbor, like a little wounded child, are truly looking for unconditional love and compassion ... I hadn’t realized I was pushing this child away because of its pain. Thank you 🙏

As someone who has chronic pain this meditation was perfect. Except for the bells. Lol. I jumped out of my position both in the beginning and end.
Namaste 🙏

Suprer awsom pain meditation!

This was very helpfuk

Thank you very much 🙏Namaste 🌈

Amazing! I cried and had a major realization about my pain. Just not a huge fan on the chimes in the beginning but other than that one of my favorite meditations.

Relaxing and insightful, thank you 🙏🏻☺️

I really love this short meditation. It helped ease the pain on my neck and shoulders,. One suggestion, using a gentler chime.

Excellent. Really made me realise that I need to appreciate my body and be kind to myself.

Helped me heal from the pain

A helpful release of pain. Thank you.

Really helped me today. Thank you, I will definitely be listening again.

Helped me recognize that I associate sadness with my pain. Made me more aware of the link between my chronic back pain and my emotions.

Helped me deal with my back pain

I learned the value of my pain as my body is busy healing itself. It is a part of its rebuilding process. This meditation was extremely meaningful to me. Thank you!

I found this very interesting. A lot of focusing on accepting and understanding the pain, and learning how to live with it, compromise with it, I understand it on a deeper level. I have been dealing with anxiety and chronic pain, and I actually feel better after doing this. Thank you.

I've had pain in my feet for over a year due to a split second of inattention. I keep trying to always focus on the present and been unsuccessful. I realized I beat myself up about it. What my pain told me was it wants to be held and massaged without judgment.