
Being With Physical And Emotional Pain
In this practice, you are invited to approach an area of emotional or physical discomfort and hold it softly. Trusting the healing and transformative power of mindful acceptance. A meditation for difficult moments!
Transcript
This meditation invites you to be with physical or emotional pain in a different way,
In a more caring and healing way.
And you start by sitting or lying comfortably and taking a few moments to let the body settle,
Taking away the pressure of fixing and controlling,
Just being,
Being yourself.
And slowly bring your awareness into the body,
Let it gravitate towards the sensations in your body,
The whole body.
Just being with the energy of your body,
From the toes,
The sole of your feet,
To the top of your feet.
And then allow your awareness to go into a part of your body where there is comfort.
Allow your awareness to go to a part of your body where you feel good,
A part of your body which is free of tension and discomfort.
And let your mind rest in that place.
If your mind wanders,
If you are distracted,
Just noticing it,
Gently coming back to a place of comfort in your body.
And breathe into this place of comfort.
Take your breath with this part of your body.
How does it feel to let your mind rest there?
Are the sensations changing or do they stay the same?
How big is the area of comfort?
Does it have a certain shape?
Is there a color connected with this area of your body?
Then I invite you to sleep.
Slowly let go of that area and bring your awareness gently to the area of discomfort,
To the area of tension.
And you approach this area gently,
Touching it softly,
Without getting involved.
As best as you can drop the story line around it and stay with the bare sensation,
Letting go of the need to change,
Letting go of the need to find explanations or solutions,
Just being with the sensations.
And again you can use the breath as a gesture of accepting.
Yes,
This is how I feel.
Yes,
This is how it is.
Breathing into or bathing the sensations,
Bathing the sensations with the breath.
Do the sensations change or do they stay the same?
How big is the area of the discomfort?
Does it have clear borders or are they rather vague?
What is the quality of the sensations?
Sharp or soft?
Hot or cold?
Bring the area of discomfort gently,
Touching it softly,
Holding it within the breath.
And then I invite you to let go of that area and go back to the area of comfort,
Letting your mind rest there,
Breathing into that area.
How is it to rest in the area of comfort?
Emphasize those sensations and bring them into the foreground.
And of course thoughts arise and if you notice that you are distracted,
You gently come back to the area of comfort.
What is the quality of the sensations there?
Soft or hot?
That area would be made from a certain material,
What would it be?
Is there a certain color connected with that area?
Just being there,
Just resting in the area of comfort.
And then again I invite you to approach the area of discomfort.
Gently allow that to happen,
Breathing into the area of discomfort,
Holding the discomfort softly,
Touching it gently.
For a moment drop all names,
Drop all concepts and just stay with the bare sensations,
Letting go of the need to fix or to control,
To find explanations or solutions.
Taking care of the discomfort by just being with it.
Accepting,
Yes this is how I feel.
Yes,
This is how it is.
Do you notice any change in the sensations or is it the same?
What is it that makes it difficult for you to be with those sensations?
And what are they when you drop all names,
All concepts,
Even bad and good?
And then towards the end of this meditation,
I invite you again to become aware of the whole body,
The whole body including the area of comfort and the area of discomfort.
The whole body energy,
Whole body breathing,
Being with the bare sensations.
Finding any raining-grain Renaissance texts,
Listeners from different chapters or bloggers And then slowly you open your eyes,
You look around.
And in your own pace,
You move into the next moment.
4.8 (584)
Recent Reviews
Lynn
January 1, 2026
I found it very helpful myself and often recommend it to clients who struggle with experiential avoidance. Lovely. Well done.
Sarah
October 12, 2025
This meditation gave me a chance to hold my discomfort with tenderness and acceptance -- and, importantly, experience the pain in the broader context of the whole self. The pain is not the whole.
Kay
December 11, 2024
Very comforting voice very reassuring and relaxing. Happy my friend recommended.
Dee
September 10, 2024
A great way to work with emotions! Thank you so much. π I will be sharing this with my mindfulness group in our program.
David
August 25, 2024
Very supportive and helpful. Deep appreciation. ππ»ππ»ππ»
Liz
February 11, 2024
Great to have something to help me face my grief. Grateful thanks to Stephen. Wish Iβd found it sooner when my parents both died suddenly so close together in 2022.
Sandra
October 8, 2023
Six years of daily severe pain, fatigue, headaches, the list goes on with ME/CFS. This meditation is so reassuring and helpful. Thank you
Susan
July 3, 2023
Your guidance to areas of comfort and discomfort allowed me to release attachment to both. Lovely meditation π
Marie
May 4, 2023
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JΓ³sa
February 6, 2023
Pende is always so compassionate and spreads peace into every cell of my body β¨ thank you Pende ππΌ
Don
January 29, 2023
A relaxing and calming process for reducing physical and emotional pain. Thank you, Stephen.
Kristie
September 9, 2022
I canβt tell you how grateful I am for this beautiful meditation which realaxed and comforted my body and eased my emotional pain. Thank you. I will listen to this again and again. ππ»
Elizabeth
May 24, 2022
Lovely, helped me to sit with relief and then grief x
Rambling
April 1, 2022
Worked perfect for me. Contains the expected segments of this kind of meditation and at the same time fresh and inventive.
Mari
March 24, 2022
Transforming meditation!
Robert
August 5, 2021
I found this very helpful, shifting from the comfortable to the areas holding tension.
Mer
August 3, 2021
What a lovely timbre you have. Relaxing. Still in a lot of pain but I enjoyed sitting with the warm and comfortable sensation.
Michael
July 21, 2021
Dealing with great pain. I greatly appreciate your offering here. I am still in pain, but I know I am not alone as I go on into the next moment.
Steven
March 27, 2021
Thank you. This subject is very difficult for me. Iβm going forward with it none the less. Thank you very much.
MCB
December 13, 2020
Very soothing. Loved the pace and calming voice. Thank you.
