Welcome to this practice for back pain relief with me Keziah Gibbons.
I will begin by inviting you to make yourself as comfortable as you can be for this gentle practice.
I appreciate that for different people this can mean different things,
And so you may choose to sit,
Stand or lie down for this practice.
The only rule to follow here is what can make you the most comfortable,
And if this means moving throughout the practice,
This is also fine.
So we'll begin this practice by allowing your attention to come inwards now.
By bringing our attention inwards,
We reduce the amount of stimuli that our brain is having to process,
And this can start to just settle things down a bit.
So start by noticing the sounds around you,
And as you do,
Recognise that these are simply the sounds of life going on around you,
And that you can let them pass you by.
And then notice the sights around you,
Not assigning meaning to them,
But just noticing colours,
Shapes,
And then recognise that you can bring your attention inwards,
So you might lower or even fully close your eyes,
And draw your attention inwards to the back of your eyelids now,
Allowing your vision to be turned inwards.
And then also turning your ears inwards,
So listening inside for any sounds within your body,
Just noticing what they are,
Sending your attention inside,
And then sensing down your body,
And just finding any sensations in your back,
And just noticing where they are,
And also noticing whether they have any shape,
Or colour,
Or density,
And what that might be like.
And the key to this practice is to be extremely careful,
And extremely sensitive to what your body is telling you,
So please always listen to your body,
And if anything is uncomfortable,
Please stop,
And as you sense into your body,
Notice if you have any inclination to movement,
And you can even try some very gentle,
Very subtle movement,
Allowing your back to stretch and shift,
Always listening to what your body is telling you,
And using everything you already know about what positioning and movement is helpful for you,
And you can continue to experiment with that subtle movement throughout this practice,
Perhaps tilting and shifting your back a little,
Allowing the blood to flow to your muscles,
Searching for that sweet spot which brings you some relief,
Always remembering to listen to your body,
And use the information you already have about what works for you,
And your body is capable of naturally producing anti-inflammatory chemicals,
Which we can stimulate in a number of ways,
So when we take anti-inflammatory drugs,
These stimulate anti-inflammatory processes in your body,
But you can also do this naturally with the way that you use your mind and your body,
So we're going to hold space for this using the breath,
So just allow your breathing to become intentional,
And next time you breathe in,
Take it a little deeper,
And next time you breathe out,
Let your out-breath naturally be longer than your in-breath,
So that your body automatically begins to generate a relaxation response,
And then this is really about listening,
Sensing,
And feeling into your body,
As you allow your breath to get deeper and deeper,
And perhaps slower and slower,
And with each breath,
Listen to your body,
And there will be a depth,
And a speed of breath which is the most comfortable,
And when you find it,
Allow your breathing to stay there,
And if you've found a gentle movement that helps,
You might notice that just sinking to your breath,
Bringing ease,
And then just bring to mind the most soothing colour you can think of,
So when you think of soothing,
What's the colour that is most like that,
And is there any sound that you can hear in your head that you find to be soothing,
And perhaps even a sensation,
Perhaps of warmth or relaxation,
Or anything else that feels really soothing,
And as you bring those to mind,
The soothing colour or sound or sensation,
Just allow those to become bigger and stronger,
And brighter and louder and deeper,
And let that soothing travel down to your back,
To wherever needs it,
Carrying the natural anti-inflammatory response that your body can make,
All by itself,
So you might see that soothing colour engulfing your back,
You might experience your back resonating with that soothing sound,
And you might feel that soothing sensation becoming the most prominent sensation in your back,
Whatever your experience,
Exercising a gentle patience with yourself,
And applying whichever tools are most helpful,
Whether that's your gentle movement,
Your slow breath,
The soothing colour,
The soothing sound,
Or the soothing sensation,
Allowing all of those factors to work together to bring you some relief,
And the guidance will finish soon,
But you can just stay here for as long as you need to,
Practising gentle relief,
Inviting in ease.
