Hello and thank you for joining me for this Mind the Pain mindfulness meditation aimed at reducing the stress,
Pain,
And anxiety caused by endometriosis.
I know a lot of us carry fear around the onset of pain while we're just out trying to enjoy life,
So this meditation will focus on combating any worries we have about encountering pain during our day.
We'll learn some new techniques and strategies to make us more confident that if pain comes on,
We can manage it without issue.
I promise.
So let's begin by closing our eyes,
Sitting up straight or lying down,
And shutting off from the world,
Feeling safe in the space to just be in the here and now without distraction.
We'll do three deep physiological sigh breaths or regular ones if that's your preference.
Just start with a deep belly breath in,
An extra quick inhale,
And exhale.
Once again,
Deep belly breath in,
An extra quick inhale,
And exhale.
And last time,
Deep belly breath in,
An extra quick inhale,
And exhale.
Well done.
I want you to just quickly imagine the first hour of a normal day for you.
If you're unlucky enough to be forced into the office once a week,
Try to imagine the first hour of that day in particular.
Picture what it's like waking up,
The immediate interactions you have or routines you'd have to complete.
I'll bet there's usually a few stressors you're encountering which you can handle.
An urgent email or message popping up on your phone,
A crying cat or dog or human,
Maybe a stain on the shirt you were planning to wear.
While these few stressors aren't usually enough to send your brain into protective mode,
They start unconsciously signaling threats to your brain.
It usually only takes one or two other micro stressors to send you into a pain spiral.
And there it is.
You're rushing down the street,
You get caught behind someone walking slowly.
Now suddenly your brain starts releasing hormones like adrenaline,
Sending impulses to your organs to react.
This all happens so suddenly and well below our conscious awareness.
Once our stressors get beyond our control,
We've effectively pushed our pain tolerance into its threat window.
But even when we get to this point,
We can feel assured that we have control to stop it before it happens or relieve it after the onset.
So keeping the deep breaths going,
We're going to do a visual practice that you're gonna use on the go,
Especially if a slow walker sends your pain detectors over the edge.
I want you to start by picturing the bright white light of relief hovering above your head like the glowing angel that you are.
This is our relief light.
It follows us everywhere we go,
But we have to let it in.
We invite the light of relief in by creating safety in the body,
Which starts with our deep physiological sigh breaths.
You can start this now at any pace you like,
But as you're doing your deep breaths in and out,
I want you to picture the white light entering your body from the head down,
Coating your entire being in a gorgeous,
Almost nuclear glow.
As the light fills up our entire being,
We're going to help the brain to understand what safety feels like.
We'll go to our anchor points,
Which are our hands and feet.
If these areas are painful for you,
You can choose any other places in the body where there isn't pain.
Focusing our attention on the hands and feet,
We'll just quickly outline them.
Around we go with each finger on the right hand,
Now the left hand,
And down to the right foot outlining the toes,
And then the left foot.
Keep this visualization going for as long as you need to.
Continue the flow of deep breathing,
Picturing the glowing light,
And focusing on your hands and feet.
Every warrior needs a weapon for battle,
And this is yours to kill pain in its tracks.
But we're going to add one other element in case the pain is particularly tricky today.
Your affirmation power.
Since we're teaching the brain of safe places in the body,
Rewiring it and preventing the unnecessary signals it's sending,
We're going to double down by repeating,
Sore but safe.
Sore but safe.
Just keep breathing and working with the visualization,
Feeling the pain leave your body with every exhale,
And leaning into your power and control over it.
The brain has no influence here.
It's all you.
And before we leave our beautiful space of power and light,
We'll do two more deep breaths in.
Once again,
Deep belly breath in,
An extra quick inhale,
And exhale.
And last time,
Deep belly breath in,
Extra quick inhale,
And exhale.
Just wiggle the fingers and toes,
Take a nice big stretch,
And open your eyes.
I'm so proud of you,
Warrior.
You're now a regular.
Marcus Aurelius,
For those that enjoy history.
You can feel confident fighting any pain battle that comes your way.
Your brain won't know what hit it.
You've got this.
