So sit in an upright and dignified posture that supports paying attention.
Not rigid or uptight,
But relaxed and self-supporting.
You can be on a cushion or on a chair.
And as you start to lengthen through the spine,
Bring attention to the body in space.
Noticing any tendency to hunch the shoulders or leaning into the future or back into the past.
Just tending to posture.
Now I'll stabilize attention by coming to rest on an anchor of your choosing.
You can use the sensations of breathing or sounds coming and going in your environment or maybe the sensations of gravity in the body.
Maybe using this anchor to establish a home base for attention or a resting place that you can return to throughout this practice.
When you're ready,
Start to bring attention to an area of the body where there may be some tension or some intensity of sensation.
So wrapping your awareness around this area of discomfort and starting to bring a spirit of kindness and inquiry to this area.
Noticing any judgment or resistance that arises.
See if you can allow yourself to have the experience you're already having.
Bringing the witness,
Observer online to just notice this experience of discomfort in the body.
So there's a few different ways we can work with difficult sensations.
The first is really to bring the full attention to the area of difficulty and investigating.
Getting curious about the sensations without bracing or tensing against them.
Welcoming them as best you can.
After all,
The discomfort is already here and believe it or not,
You are already tolerating it.
So seeing if you can bring some loving awareness to this experience of discomfort.
You can wrap the breath around the area of discomfort.
Maybe inviting the new oxygen to fill the area as you breathe in.
And then softening or releasing any tension as you breathe out.
And as you investigate these sensations in this area of discomfort,
You can use a mental note to name what is here.
Might be something like throbbing,
Pinching,
Piercing or stabbing.
Pressure,
Tingling or tightness.
Whatever is here,
Seeing if you can just give it a name.
Ah,
Throbbing is here.
And so the second thing we can do if the sensation becomes overwhelming is with intention actually shift attention away from the area of difficulty to another anchor in the present moment.
Such as the breath or sound or neutral sensations in another part of the body.
So lifting attention from the area of discomfort and intentionally placing it elsewhere.
And when you are ready,
Returning attention to the original area of discomfort and investigating again.
Using this skill of pendulating,
Kind of dipping a toe in to the experience of discomfort and then returning to safety.
Resourcing in between moments of investigation.
And a third way you can work with discomfort is to set the intention to move the body to alleviate this area of pain.
And so if you choose to do this,
Making sure you are doing so with agency and not out of reactivity or impulsivity.
So clearly discerning,
Is it necessary to move the body?
Would movement be supportive?
And if so,
Then moving with intention.
Noticing how sensations shift as you move.
And see if you can keep your attention with the area of discomfort.
And notice the changing nature of sensations.
And once the discomfort or pain has been alleviated,
You may wish to return to the original posture and investigate again.
And so for the next few moments of this practice,
I'll drop out the sound of my voice and invite you to choose one of these three ways of working skillfully with discomfort in the body.
And now I invite you to return attention to your home base,
To your anchor.
Taking a few full breaths all the way in and out.
And you might even wish to congratulate yourself.
To thank yourself for making some space to attend to discomfort in the body.
Being with your experience without making it go away or needing it to be different.
Just holding this gentle care and compassion for yourself.
Namaste.
