Cramps, Cramps Go Away

A guided practice to help you feel supported and maybe even lessen your menstrual cramps.
When you are under stress your period cramps can worsen. This guided practice is for you to listen to during your period, especially when you want to curl into a ball because of your cramps. I do a variation of this meditation myself when my cramps are bad. I sometimes use a hot pack as well.
Go, grab a hot pack or hot water bottle and get comfortable. Being comfortable as possible should be your goal.

This track was created to be able to go about your day after listening to the meditation, so it is not suitable for a sleep track.

“Adrift Volume 2” by Christopher Lloyd Clarke. Licensed by Enlightened Audio.

Transcript

Allow yourself to get comfortable,

Maybe laying down or even curled into your favorite ball position.

Place your hands palm down just below your belly button or lower,

Whatever feels the most comfortable to you.

Allowing your hands to comfortably rest upon your body.

When you feel ready,

Close your eyes.

Take a deep breath and slowly exhale.

Take another deep breath and slowly exhale.

Take a final deep breath and slowly exhale.

Feel your body relaxing.

Feel yourself becoming even more comfortable and relaxed.

With your eyes closed,

Allow yourself to imagine you are lying in a beautiful field of daisies,

Breathing in the fresh air,

Looking up at the bright blue sky.

Imagine yourself becoming more grounded,

Calmer and content.

I want you to visualize a shape which represents your cramps.

Go with the very first image you think of.

How large is it?

Go with the first size you think of.

What is the texture of this shape?

Go with the first thing you think of.

What color is it?

Go with the first color you think of.

What color does it need to be?

Go with the first color you think of.

Now imagine the second color,

The color that it needs to be,

Being poured into the shape you saw.

Good.

Now imagine this same color is overflowing into your whole being,

Gently surrounding you,

Gently filling you up.

Take a deep breath and slowly exhale.

Good.

Slowly return your focus to the daisies,

Allowing them to give you some additional cheer,

Allowing yourself to feel even more grounded,

To feel calmer,

Allowing you to feel a sense of strength,

A sense of comfort,

And a sense of deep well-being radiating through your entire body.

It is now time to begin to head back to the present moment.

You begin to hear the sounds around you.

You begin to feel the position of your body.

And when you are ready,

Open your eyes.

Taking a moment to ground yourself back in the present moment,

Feeling your entire body firmly supported,

Allowing yourself to be fully present and back in your body.

Feeling refreshed,

Alert,

And ready to continue with your day,

Ready to embrace your life.

Reviews

lovely 🥹

This really helped! Thank you!

This was very effective. I would have liked to lay down - especially to curl up into that little ball I'd been in earlier after awakening - but I was already sitting up and morning stiffness makes it hard to shift around much before I complete my mobility exercises (largely done through Insight Timer tracks of Feldenkrais, gentle yoga, stretches, visualization, tapping, etc).

That said, this was incredibly effective nonetheless, from a half-lotus seated posture. I had my winter meditation cloak on so I was nice and warm, aiding the relaxation, and I leaned my lower abdomen forward onto one of my softer beanbag neck pillows for the gentle pressure there where my hands could not cover well enough. That also let me lean my entire torso forward enough to become more relaxed while supported.

I can see where some people might not resonate with the long drawn out words, but I liked them. I do box breathing for anxiety and anger, plus pain relief. When I do that, I count each stage to help keep me focused on the breath. With this, I could exhale for the duration of the word and not have to count at all. For morning brain fog, that was a truly beautiful thing to discover. 😊 I also appreciated the gentle brightness and smile added to your voice as you concluded the practice.

I did think some guidance or commentary on how to retain this sense of relaxation through the day would be helpful, though. Fortunately for me, daisies are one of my favorite flowers, so that's easy for me to remember. I would respectfully recommend maybe one additional beat or breath between each step in describing the shape, to help us "lock in" what we have visualized so that foundation is ready to accept the next step of describing it. I started losing track of the shape itself as that part progressed because I didn't have the time to get it firmly in my mind's eye first. I graduated from the fast paced, intensive Defense Language Institute, where new language, alphabets, grammar, vocabulary, etc were thrown at us like grade school dodgeballs, so I'm used to quick acquisition of concepts and so on, but this caught me off guard and was too quick in between elements.

The only other suggestion I have is one I expect most other people don't hear or doesn't bother. (I was an audio technician and audiobook technical editor for some years.) About halfway through, that ticking clock started to become very noticeable and somewhat distracting. Given the static sound, it wasn't a watch; sounded like a wall clock or potentially a desk clock sitting nearby. During the silent parts, even brief ones, the ticking could easily be heard.

That said, the practice itself worked so well that I was able to let that irritation wash through me and away, just like the discomfort from the cramps.

I was quite impressed with how effective the practice was, and the method of color change was an interesting choice. A small segment of my mind tried to figure out the logistics of filling the shape, then me, but that kept that part of the brain lightly occupied while I focused on the practice itself, so it worked out well. 😊

I have a busy day ahead and am about to get up from my seated position. This is usually where I get a return of cramping, but I think if I firmly affix the visualization in my mind now, before I rise, it might help with moving around in less discomfort.

Thank you so much for sharing this practice with us here. Bookmarked and added to a special purpose Playlist for repeated use. Have a beautiful day or evening! I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤🤲🏻

Definitely felt the ease return even with the cramps. Thanks!

Awesome! I started the meditation with cramps, and ended without them!! It works, and I am so grateful 👍🏽