Feeling Free (For Pain Management)

Dr. Linda Kantor's mp3 - These tracks are from part of Dr. Linda Kantor's Be Awake Collection that is available for all. Your internal auditory pain medication (or shall we say meditation?), this one is for pain management.

Transcript

Welcome to the Be Awake Healing Series of CDs. This series of CDs is geared to assist you to living a fuller, Happier and healthier life with more balance and centeredness. The essence of living a more balanced and centered life is the art of living more fully in the present moment. This is a skill that one can cultivate over time. Those who learn to live with more present moment awareness or mindfulness report an increased capacity to cope with the ups and downs of life with greater peacefulness and wisdom. Living with physical and emotional pain is often difficult as we have a culture that denies pain. We are often taught to suppress our emotions. It's important to note that repressed emotion can be linked to physical pain, Hypertension and illness. Mindfulness meditation encourages us to observe directly how we are holding and feeling the pain in our bodies. When we are tight or sore in our bodies we can cause a restriction in blood flow which leads to more pain. As we get tighter and experience more pain we can experience fear, Anger and sadness about the pain. Mindfulness encourages us to open up to and acknowledge our pain and as we learn to do this we can often find a way to soften around it or we can learn to become more able to tolerate what is happening within and around us. In this guided body scan and meditation I invite you to explore your pain and tension as best you can. See if you can distinguish between the thoughts about your pain and the sensations or experience of pain itself. If the pain at any point becomes too difficult to stay with just allow yourself to rest in the sensational break for a while. Welcome yourself into this special time. Make sure you are comfortable and in a place that is preferably undisturbed. Take the bones off the hook. You can do this practice either seated in a comfortable position or lying down. You can also keep your eyes open or closed. Take the time to make any adjustments you might need to settle into this precious time with your body. Begin right now by bringing your kind attention to the present and feeling into the mind and body as it is. Notice where you might feel tension or tightness and where is a feeling of softness or letting go. Are there any parts of the body that might be resisting the pull of gravity? Allow yourself to notice any resistance or tension in your body without having to change it. Become mindful of the breath now, Feeling the in-breath or the out-breath with awareness. Without attempting to change or alter your breath at this moment in any way, Simply notice the way your body is breathing in this moment. Do you feel the breath more strongly at the nostrils, The chest or the belly? How far down in your body can you feel the movement of your breath? Can you notice movement in the ribs, In the upper belly, The lower belly? Can you notice in your being where the impulse to inhale occurs? Can you notice where the impulse to exhale is? There's no need to control or change your breath, Just allow it to be as it is as you notice. Now, When you are ready, Bringing your attention to the toes of the feet, Tuning in to any sensations that might be there to be felt. If you like, You can imagine you are connected to the warmth of the sun through a cord that goes through your belly. And with your awareness of that cord, You can now send warmth and healing right down to the region of your toes, Allowing the warmth to meet whatever sensations are there with care. Breathing into the toes and as you breathe out now, Becoming aware of the soles of the feet, Notice what is there to be felt in the soles of the feet. Pulsation, Temperature, Tingling or nothing at all. Feeling into the surface area of your own feet and if you like, Embracing them with the warmth of your awareness. And now moving your awareness to embrace and envelop the whole of your feet. Notice if the feet feel the same or different to each other in any way. There is no need to question or analyze, Just feel and notice. We hear the messages of our bodies through the language of sensation. What can you hear now in the region of your feet? Guiding the attention now into the ankles and feeling into the inner and outer ankle bones of each foot. Notice the arch underneath the ankles. Feel whether one foot is more turned out than the other. As you attend to the ankles, Can you bring some appreciation for all that the ankles do for you on a daily basis? What have they done for you today? Bringing your attention into the region from the ankles to the knees. If you like, Meeting the sensations there with careful and kind attention. Noticing that the human body is filled with wisdom, Sensations and messages. So taking time now to listen and feel into the sensations of the lower legs. Like a meteorologist who is scanning the weather, Now paying attention and feeling into the region of the upper legs, The thighs, The hamstrings and the inner thighs. If there is any pain at any point, You can either just allow yourself to consciously breathe into the region of the pain or you can explore the sensations as they are with the breath anchoring you to the present moment. There is no right or wrong way to do this. At best, You can learn to feel into your body without judging what you find. Moving awareness into the pelvic girdle now. Feeling the genitals, Buttocks, Hips. Becoming aware of the systems of elimination and reproduction. Bringing the warmth of your attention and care into these areas. Taking time now to feel and sense the belly. You might be able to detect the movement of the breath in this part of the body. Feeling into the depths of the belly and perhaps noticing any sensations of tension, Softness, Tightness or any emotional quality in the region of your belly. Use the power of your awareness to feel any sense of pulsation in the belly. It is sometimes useful to imagine the pulsation if you cannot feel it. To sense the power and energy and life that resides in this miraculous organism that we call the body. The belly is the seat of your personal power. Can you feel that power beneath your breath? Bringing your attention now to the region of the chest and the rib cage. Send that warm, Glowing, Pulsating energy from your belly into the region of the heart and the chest. Meet and greet whatever you find with awareness. The heartbeat, The movement of the rib cage with the breath, Any emotional tone in the region of your heart. Suggest to yourself that you are safe to feel whatever is there in the region of your own heart. Taking time now to move into the region of your back. Can you feel the imprint or surface area of your back on the ground? Remember that if there are any sensations of pain, See if you can soften and turn your awareness towards rather than away from the sensations or emotions. Let's move now into the region of the throat and the neck. If you like, You can swallow once or twice to feel this part of the body more vividly. Any time that you find your mind is busy wanting time to speed up, Remind yourself that this is the time to slow down and to explore the wisdom of your body. As we slow down, We are more able to notice the difference between the sensations in the body and the thoughts, Beliefs and emotions that we hold around these sensations. Moving into the region of the face now. Allow your awareness to move through the neck right up into the inner sphere of your skull. Can you feel the area of the forehead? Are there any sensations of tension, Heaviness or tightness there? Now wrapping that awareness into the territory of the brain and the head, Notice if your head feels heavy or light. If you are lying down, Can you feel the pressure with the head is met by the floor? And now redirect your attention to the pulse in the soles of the feet and bring the attention now back into the warmth in the belly. Feel that warmth grow stronger and warmer as the heat in your belly expands. Imagine it flowing into the legs, Filling the toes, Lower knees and upper legs. Send the warm pulse from your belly upwards into the chest and down into the arms, Elbows, Hands, Fingers. Allow all these parts of the body to fill with the healing energy of awareness. Can you feel a strong, Steady pulse in the palms of your hands? Send that warm pulsing energy up again now to the head and the face. Feel the pulsing and the warmth in the forehead and face synchronize with the pulse and warmth in your belly. And now feeling the whole interior space of your body is filling with the warm, Glowing energy that pulses with the rhythm of your belly. Allow this warmth to envelop the whole of your body to move into each and every cell. Noticing how does the whole of your body feel now? Can you feel the connection of your being to the universe around you and yet anchoring your awareness to that pulse in your belly? Just letting yourself be in this place of deep awareness and relaxation. Notice any changes in your breath. Notice the levels of pain or difficulty. If they are feeling more manageable, Notice your capacity to shift your experience of pain in this short time. If they are the same, Can you honor yourself for whatever you are experiencing? Allowing your body to rest whole, Complete, Bathed in the warmth of your awareness. Take some time now to bring awareness to your thoughts. No need to stop or change the thoughts, But rather bringing awareness to them like watching clouds go by in the vast blue skies. Aware of thought, But not caught up in thought. Can you notice the quality of the thoughts? Positive? Negative? Neutral? And now returning awareness to the breath with the feeling of having had deep rest and restoration. No matter how you have found this experience of the body scan, Thank and acknowledge yourself for having taken this time out. And now slowly rotate the ankles and the hands. Deepen your breath and stretch allowing any sound you need to emerge as you breathe. If you like, Take time to stretch the body for a while in whatever way it needs to be. Notice the speed and quality of your thoughts. As you open your eyes, Notice if your vision is clearer or more dull. As you move into your next activity, Remind yourself to continue with the same quality of awareness of your own pulse and rhythm. You might find that in time and with practice you can better manage your thoughts and feelings about your pain and in that way reduce your experience of suffering. You might also find that the pain itself might reduce. No matter how you experience this time, It might be important to remind yourself that our intention here is to cultivate kindness to our experience. With mindful practice, The possibility exists that pain can become a doorway towards more empathy for yourself and for others. We can often become caught up in pain and our thoughts about the pain and in this we can feel more isolated. It's useful then to remind ourselves that pain comes in many different forms and it is a point of connection for all of us as we all can experience pain in one form or another. It is easy to project thoughts onto others that they might have a thing that we do not and of course that is a distortion in thought. So let your journey of awareness of your pain take you to a place of kindness to yourself and to others. Let it open your heart to a deeper empathy and care for suffering, Your own and that of all around you. The poet Roshani says, There is a brokenness out of which comes the unbroken, A shatteredness out of which blooms the unshatterable. There is a sorrow beyond all grief that leads to joy and a fragility out of whose depths emerges strength. Thank you. You are welcome.