Meeting Pain Gently & Kindly

When the body is hurting, our first instinct is often to push the pain away, to try to ignore what is happening. This meditation offers another possibility: meeting painful sensations with gentle awareness and compassion.

Whether you are experiencing acute discomfort or living with chronic pain, you'll be guided to explore your experience with kindness, curiosity, and choice. Rather than trying to fix or eliminate the pain, this practice invites you to soften your relationship to it, finding a pace and distance that feels supportive.

Transcript

Hi everybody, Thank you for being here. I'm going to offer you a meditation today that specifically works with painful sensations in the body. And whether they're acute sensations or chronic sensations, Sensations that feel unpleasant, Distracting, Painful. And this is not to solve the pain or to make it go away, But it's a way to include and work with difficult sensations in the body. Body. I have found that when I have a migraine, For instance, That if I can sit quietly in meditation and allow the sensations to be as they are, But actually meet them with some softness, Sometimes getting close to them, Sometimes getting a little more distant, The intensity of the sensations tends to diminish and I'm not as gripped by the pain. So that's what I'll offer you today. So find a posture that works well for you. This particularly works well if you're very relaxed in a very comfortable chair, Maybe reclining on a couch with your body supported, Maybe a pillow under the head or under the knees with the knees bent. Maybe you even want a blanket so you're comfortable, But not so comfortable that you fall asleep. So find that posture that feels good. And let the eyes close or a gentle gaze down. Beginning by sensing the body right here. Softening and relaxing to the degree that it works for you. Let the body be supported, Giving over the weight of the body to the support of the furniture or the floor. Let the face soften, The shoulders drop a little bit. The hands rest gently anywhere where it's comfortable. And let the breathing happen on its own. There's no need. To do anything special with the breathing. Just breathe and know you're breathing. Letting the body be supported. And whatever's happening in the mind, Bit by bit, The mind starts to quiet, Breath by breath. You might notice the natural movement the body makes in response to breathing. The rise and fall of the chest and the belly. And you might notice sounds in the room. Sounds close by or further away. Maybe there's a sense of temperature. Warm or cool. Maybe part of the body is warm and another part is cool. Just being here, Arriving breath by breath, Moment by moment. And then sensing into the body, To anywhere. That feels comfortable for you. Doesn't matter where it is or what size it is. Might be the belly, The hands, Might be the tip of the nose or the fingernails. Anywhere in your body. Where you can rest that you say, Oh yeah, That's comfortable. In getting a sense of what comfort feels like. Maybe there's a temperature to it. Or a texture or a color. Letting comfort be known. Breathing there. Resting. In this quality of comfort. For a little bit. Really get to know it. And then if you're noticing any discomfort in the body. Any level of discomfort from small to intense. See if you can notice it right from this comfortable place. So hanging out where it's comfortable, But also maybe off at a distance, Recognizing that there's some pain. Some difficult sensation. Something uncomfortable. Somewhere else in the body. You see it as at a distance from the place of comfort, And you know it's there. Maybe it has a size or a shape or a color. Or even a texture that you're aware of. Just notice. And breathe. And then come back and hang out where it's comfortable. Letting the discomfort be as it is. It's not a problem. It's just out there. That the attention is here, Right in the comfort. Resting. And then getting a little closer, Imagine moving closer to the discomfort. So you're just at the edge of it. And from the edge of this discomfort, Again noticing its size and shape, Where it is in the body. Does it have a sensation? Is there a pulse, A sting, An ache? See if you can describe to yourself the characteristics of the sensation. Maybe it has a color. Maybe it doesn't. And then let it go, Come back to the place that's comfortable, To this home base. Rest here, Breathe a few breaths. And this time moving a little bit closer to this area. Of discomfort and see maybe it's moved somewhere else in the body, Maybe it hasn't. Maybe its shape has changed, But this time imagine it stepping inside this area. What is it like on the inside of it, Its sensations, Color, Texture, Shape? And only stay as long as is actually maybe a little bit comfortable to do that, As long as it's okay. Just staying inside there. Or another breath. And then coming back. Resting in the comfort. Knowing the discomfort is off in the distance. And that you can always come back here, Breathing. And then moving back into the area of discomfort. Maybe getting deep inside of it this time, Stepping further in a little closer. Is it okay to do that? If not, Move away. But if it is Check out what these sensations are like from the inside. Again, What is the sensation? What is its size or texture? Knowing you can always leave, You can always come back to this home base. But bit by bit. Experiencing the discomfort a little closer up. Maybe even saying to yourself, May I be okay in this moment? May I be at ease in this moment. Breathing. And then coming back. Coming back to the comfortable place, Resting here. Getting a sense of the amount of. Relaxation or capacity that might be here now from going back and forth. To the discomfort and then coming back. Coming back where you can rest. Knowing you're okay. You might notice if there's a change in the quality of those sensations or the awareness of the discomfort. But knowing that you can always come back here. Where things are fine. And maybe even noticing inside of the discomfort, Things are also okay. The discomfort. Is a sensation. Pain is a sensation. And there's much more to you. Than the pain. There's the awareness of the pain, The awareness of the sensation. Maybe the thoughts about why it's there. That you might not want it there. But that's all extra. Just coming back to where it's comfortable. May I be at ease. Resting hair. And then you can even offer. A little bit of goodwill. Little bit of blessing to the pain itself. You might try saying, May the painful sensations find ease and peace. May the painful sensations find ease and peace. May I be with this pain gently. And kindly. May I be with this pain gently and kindly. May the pain find the space to release and dissolve. May the pain find the space to release and dissolve. Making space for discomfort. Wishing yourself well. Even in the presence of discomfort. Knowing that it'll change and it'll shift. And that you are not the discomfort. The sensations are simply the sensations. Though they may not feel simple, They change, They adjust, They move. Cultivating this capacity to be with difficulty. Is one of the most profound things that can happen. In an awareness practice. Breathing here, Settling where it's comfortable, Resting.