Pain Management - Separating Thoughts From Sensations

Use this meditation when you feel ready to start changing your reactions to the sensations in your body. Try to observe how you normally react to sensations, the stories that come up, the judgments, etc. For these few minutes can you experience the sensations without all the thoughts that normally accompany them.

Notice the sensations as they are at that moment.

Transcript

If you suffer from chronic pain, You'll often feel strong feelings and emotions on a daily basis. Irritation, Frustration, Anger, Sadness, Despair, Depression. The sensations can be so powerful in your body, You feel overwhelmed on a regular basis. Because of these powerful sensations, You've become accustomed to reacting to them in a certain way. We want to move beyond those reactions. We know how these sensations make us feel. But having these feelings and emotions towards these sensations doesn't help the sensations diminish. It actually enhances them. So the purpose of this meditation is to transcend those reactions. Can we find a more neutral attitude towards the sensations in our bodies? An attitude that calms our nervous system, Softens everything, Decreases its vigilance. So that the sensations don't have this power to cause us to react all the time. We'll start this process by relaxing the nervous system on a more general basis. We'll use some deep belly breathing to start this process. Moving away from any tendency to take short, Shallow breaths in the chest. Expanding the belly on your inhale and gently drawing it back in on the exhale. Keeping the movement down in the belly. And with each exhale feeling a sense of surrender, A sense of letting go. Inviting the muscles in your face to soften with each exhale. Your neck and shoulders too. Your chest and belly. Your back. Your hips. Your legs. To your toes. And continuing with these deeper breaths for a few more moments. These breaths tell our nervous system we're safe. Ready for relaxation? Safety and relaxation are important places to be when you want to diminish your reactivity to sensations. Taking a few more of these breaths as safety signals for your nervous system. Now we want to start bringing our awareness to some of the sensations in our bodies. Can you spend a few moments exploring these sensations? And while you're exploring these sensations, Can you try separate the sensations from any thoughts you have about them? These sensations will often bring up a well played tune that you've had moving through your body and mind for a long time. Can we start to move beyond that? And just observe the sensations for exactly what they are. Right here, Right now, In this present moment. Starting to let go of some of those stories, Those beliefs, Those attitudes you have about that part of your body. About those sensations. Each time one of those stories or attitudes arises, Can you come back to observing the sensations as they are? Moving away from the temptation to judge these sensations. Just watch and notice them. Noticing how the sensations feel in this very moment, Without the commentary, Without the context. And acknowledging yourself for leaning into these sensations. Moving through the process of separating your thoughts from the sensations. So you can move beyond those reactions that you've been going through for a long time. We'll take five more deep breaths to continue to send safety signals to the nervous system. So it knows we're safe. That we're ready for change. That brings our practice to a close. All the best on your journey exploring these sensations.