Editing Your Pain

Experienced meditators can sit and observe pain as it changes and comes and goes. Not easy. Editing Your Pain allows you to "direct" and "edit" your experience of pain through various imaginative activities. If an activity doesn't suit you, just focus on the background music until the next one. Practice it several times. Editing Your Pain together with Obsering Your Pain and Pain Away Number 11 has a cumulative effect, snowballing over time. Enjoy. Not a substitute for medical attention.

Transcript

Editing your pain.

This guided visualization helps you non-medically manage chronic pain.

It is not a substitute for medical attention.

Find a quiet location where you can sit in your favorite meditation position or lie down with your arms and legs uncrossed.

You will be using your imagination a lot,

So you should not be casually listening to this meditation or doing other things that require your attention like driving.

These bodies that we inhabit are only temporary,

Holding on to what they were and what we want them to be when we are faced with inevitable changes can only increase suffering.

When they begin to change,

It is wiser to just observe,

Learn,

And appreciate the changes.

Our bodies sometimes have sensations that we interpret as pain.

Those interpretations can be a little iffy,

You know.

Just ask a masochist who interprets that sensation as pleasure or a cutter who uses the pain as a distraction from another pain and uses that pain to numb herself.

Sometimes the body responds by turning on its own natural opioid receptors.

That's an interesting topic,

But I'm not here to talk about interpretations today.

If you are listening to this meditation,

You are probably having some kind of chronic sensation that you interpret as pain,

And it can be made worse by fear of pain or fear of what the pain represents.

You can also be amplified by avoidance.

After all,

Trying to run away from the boogeyman puts him right behind you,

Doesn't it?

Our resistant responses create suffering,

And suffering is unavoidable,

And resistance worsens it.

Facing and accepting reality works better.

In meditation,

You can take the role of observer.

The longer you observe,

The more you will notice the impermanence of your physical sensations as they arise and fall and change in a myriad of ways.

Your observation of pain also changes it and changes your relationship with it.

You can also take the role of director or editor.

Today,

We will practice being director or editor,

Which is easier for some people less adept at mindful observation of pain over an extended period.

You may need a little reminder of who you are.

Repeat these sentences after me.

I have a body,

But I am not my body.

I have feelings,

But I am not my feelings.

I have thoughts,

But I am not my thoughts.

I have desires,

But I am not my desires.

If I am not these things,

Then what or who am I?

I am pure consciousness,

A center of will.

Good.

Now to begin,

I invite you to softly focus on the sensation of pain somewhere in your body.

Instead of resisting it,

Observe it.

Become curious.

I will help you observe and direct your attention by asking questions that you can answer in your heart or make suggestions that you can imagine doing.

We are all different people,

So consider my suggestions like those of a shoe salesman suggesting you try on a few pair.

If the suggestions fit,

Fine.

If not,

There are many other things you can do.

You can focus on your breath,

Focus on the background music.

These are not to confuse you,

But to reduce any frustration you might have.

When you are ready to go on,

All you have to do is refocus your attention on the louder guided meditation when I start another set of questions or suggestions.

You may not be able to answer them or do them at first,

So practicing several times may be beneficial.

Do not be concerned if you space out or fall asleep.

Now part of you is always listening and learning,

And you can always come back and practice again.

It's a lovely experience.

Now let's get back to that area of pain.

Let's evaluate that pain on a scale of zero to nine.

Zero being non-existent and nine being the worst ever.

How would you rate that pain now?

If it had a color,

Shape,

And size,

What would it be?

Now I would like you to increase your pain two or three numbers.

That's right.

You can increase the pain two or three numbers.

Increase it.

Increase it a little more.

Is the color,

Shape,

And size different or the same?

And now breathe in and let that pain,

Breathe out and let that pain float off like a kite set loose in the wind.

Return to your present pain for a moment.

Now imagine you can reduce the pain by one third.

That's right.

Imagine that you can reduce your pain by one third.

Reduce it now.

Just go ahead.

Reduce it now by one third.

Is the color,

Shape,

And size different or the same?

Now you can also let that pain go like cutting loose a little boat by a stream and watching it float away with the current.

And come back now to your present pain.

Let's observe it a little more closely.

Breathe into that area.

And as you breathe into it,

It may become more noticeable.

Some people's pain can talk.

I don't know if your pain can.

But if your pain did have a voice,

How do you think it would sound?

Harsh?

Stern?

Scared?

Nagging?

Sweet?

How would your voice sound if it could talk?

Your pain sound if it could talk?

Take some time and listen.

You may or may not hear it.

You can guess it if you want.

It's all okay.

And if your pain has a message,

What do you think it would be saying?

Repeat what you think it is saying.

Repeat it again.

Just say to your pain,

Thanks for telling me.

If there is no message,

That's okay too.

Now you can either enjoy the mantra or you can just enjoy listening to my creative questions as we play with the message.

How would your pain change if you could change the message into a yes no question?

Try it out.

Sentences take different meanings if there is a change in word stress.

For example,

You are talking to me will mean something very different if you hear you are talking to me or you are talking to me.

How would you feel if you repeated the message saying a different word louder this time?

Try saying the message again,

Making one word louder,

A different word louder than the others.

Try that one more time with a different word.

And what happens to your pain when you change the tone of that voice,

Making it sound more like Rick from Rick and Morty or Shaggy from Scooby Doo or Yogi Bear or SpongeBob or Homer Simpson or Mabel Pines or Betty Boop?

Think of one of those characters and hear that character say the message.

How would that affect your pain?

Next let's focus on the physical sensation of your pain.

You can think about the answers to these questions.

How would you describe your pain?

You can answer yes or no to my questions.

Is your pain heavy?

Is it sharp?

Is it cutting?

Burning?

Stabbing?

Dull?

Biting?

Cold?

Hard?

Is it grinding?

Is it gnawing?

Is it itching?

Is it pulsating?

Is it throbbing?

Is it twisting?

As an editor,

You can always change it a little bit.

If it is moving,

What direction is it moving?

What would happen if you changed its directions or it changed its route?

What would happen if it changed its directions or changed its route or changed sizes?

Most meditators know that the longer you observe pain,

The more it will change on its own.

But as an editor,

You can also change it a little bit yourself.

So how fast is it moving?

What happens if you speed it up or slow it down?

Anyway,

You can play with these things.

And sometimes we do questionable things for good reasons.

For example,

I may tell a white lie to make someone feel better.

Or if you hear someone say,

I wish that person would go away,

Then you could ask them,

Well,

What would that do for them if that person went away?

And they might say,

Then I wouldn't have to hear his voice.

And so you can ask,

Well,

What would not hearing his voice do for you?

And they might say,

Then I could find some quietness.

And then you can ask,

If you find quietness,

What will that do for you?

And they might say,

Then I could find peace.

Then you can ask,

Anything else more important than peace?

And they would probably say,

No,

That's the most important.

And you can ask,

Well,

How does peace feel?

And they would probably say,

Wonderful.

Then you can say,

Take that peace with you and go back and listen to his voice,

The voice of the pain.

And how does that change your response to his voice?

How does feeling peaceful change the response to his voice?

And they would probably say,

It's better now.

So now I ask you,

What that painful part wants,

You can ask.

Ask that painful part what it wants and wait for an answer.

You might imagine it says,

I want da-da-da-da-da.

And that answer is number one.

And when you get it,

Thank that part and ask it.

If you get all of what you want,

Fully and completely,

Then what else by having it is even more important?

And wait for an answer.

And that answer is number two.

When you get it,

You can thank that part and ask.

If you get all of what you want,

Fully and completely,

Then what else by having that is even more important?

And wait for an answer.

That answer is number three.

When you get it and it is something that you too would like in your life,

How do you think it would be to have number three as a way of being in the world?

If you think that would be great,

Then take that feeling of number three,

Of already having it,

And go back and mix it with number two,

And then mix it with number one.

Now holding this feeling,

Go back and experience your pain.

And how does that change the pain?

Now think of something you want to do or someone you would like to help.

See that task accomplished or see them already helped and thanking you.

Now put that picture in front of you in a place where you put other important things to do.

Make it even more important by making it bigger or closer or brighter.

Type that image there and bring your attention back to your pain.

Locate the pain.

Describe how it feels.

Now imagine looking at that thing you want to do or that person you want to help.

What can you do when you still have pain?

Well there are many stories of people who have been so traumatized,

Who are shocked or frightened or hurt that they psychologically left their painful body behind and did something and afterwards had no memory of the trauma.

Your mind has the ability to just pop out of your body,

Leave it behind while you go over and do that thing you want to do or help that person you want to help.

There are hundreds of instances where we have sat in uncomfortable positions while totally engrossed in a movie or a book and got up and realized our legs were numb or stiff or our back was stiff and didn't know it.

There are hundreds of instances where we have walked in ill-fitting shoes while totally enjoying some exciting scenery and completely forgotten the discomfort and got back into our car or got back home just to realize,

Oh my gosh,

A blister and we didn't even know it.

You have that ability too.

Your mind can get you so engrossed in doing that thing you want to do or helping that person you want to help that you forget all the discomfort,

All the discomfort back there.

If popping out of your body is too exciting for you,

Then you can imagine what would happen if you put that pain in a box and close the lid and then put that box into another box and close the lid and then put that box in still another box and close the lid.

And what would happen to that pain if you then place that box in a chest in a room at the end of a long,

Long hallway?

Go ahead,

Put it there,

Close the drawer and then turn your back on it and walk away from it leaving it there,

Way back there as you walk out the door.

You close the door and as you close the door you walk on to the other side of the hallway and go into another room or out the front door to do what you want to do or to help that person.

That pain out of sight,

Out of mind.

The worse the pain,

The faster it happens.

The more you pay attention to your task or that person you want to help,

The more you're able to forget about that comfort you left far,

Far behind.

It's a cool lesson that part of you can practice and master in the days to come as you seek out things to do and people to help.

How's that pain now?

Is it a three,

A seven,

Five,

An eight now?

Or is it a two?

You may not be able to take away all of your pain.

It might be asking too much of your body.

And if you lose one percent,

You would still have ninety-nine percent of it left.

But it would still be a loss of one percent.

You could lose five percent of that pain,

But you wouldn't notice the loss of percent because you would still have ninety-five percent of the pain,

Though you still would have lost five percent.

You might even lose eighty percent of your pain,

But I don't think it's reasonable yet.

Personally,

I would be willing to settle for a loss of seventy-five percent.

What's the difference between seventy-five percent and eighty percent?

Sooner or later you can lose eighty percent or maybe eighty-five percent.

But first,

Let's settle for eighty and be satisfied leaving with the remaining twenty percent back there in the box.

When that painful part and all the other parts understand what to do,

And when they know how to do it in a way that is just right for you,

Or agree to keep playing with it and editing it,

You can use your own time and your own way to slowly come out of your guided meditation state as you repeat the following after me.

I have a body,

But I am not my body.

I have feelings,

But I am not my feelings.

I have thoughts,

But I am not my thoughts.

I have desires,

But I am not my desires.

I am pure consciousness,

A center of will.

Reviews

One of the best meditations I’ve ever done! Thank you

Thank You

I'm hooked! your voice is so soothing and your guidance is so creative! I just love it! thank you! I recently lost my father which has been extremely painful and I have found great comfort in your meditations. thank you!!

Very interesting. Relaxed the muscles around the painful area.
Thank you.