Healing Pain Meditation

This 30-minute healing pain meditation practice is asking you to slow down and pause to care for yourself. The meditation has you look at the pain for what it is and offer it the tenderness of loving it and opening up enough to let it go. Whether the letting go happens in the form of tears, breath, deep relaxation, or just the simple realization that someone is holding the space for you to feel connected, welcome, and heard. Music provided by Annie Jameson.

Transcript

This is a meditation for healing your pain.

Yoga is a state of mind.

We begin yoga by getting out of our heads and into the present moment.

In our body,

Our mind,

Our life as it is,

Not as we would like it to be.

Too often in pain,

We deflect,

We ignore,

We put down,

We wish away,

We push through.

We use sarcasm.

We use hurtful words.

We give up,

We give in.

This meditation practice is asking you to slow down and pause to care for yourself.

I am here to remind you that you are important and worthy of love,

Including the love that comes from within.

It is in this quiet pause that you notice your breath.

You become aware of the emotions that arise or simmer beneath the surface of your pain.

You stop to look at the pain for what it is,

And you offer it the tenderness of loving it and opening up enough to let it go.

Whether the letting go happens in the form of tears,

Breath,

Deep relaxation,

Or just the simple realization that someone is holding the space for you to feel connected,

Welcome,

And heard.

Begin by finding a comfortable position.

That may mean lying down with a pillow under your head or your legs,

Or sitting with a support underneath you.

Feel free to pause this recording until you feel propped up and comfortable.

Remember you are in control of your environment and your comfort,

And only you can identify what feels good.

Give yourself permission to be here.

Close your eyes if that feels safe.

Being present with any discomfort,

Being present with your pain and the truth of how you feel without trying to hide it or manipulate it.

Become aware of your whole body,

The front of your body,

The sides,

The back of your body,

And all of the props or surfaces supporting you.

Become aware of your bare skin exposed to the air,

The clothing on your skin.

Allow your body to be held as you consciously relax and settle into this meditation.

If at any time you become uncomfortable,

You have the power to change and adjust your position for the deepest rest.

Notice what is your energy like at the moment,

High or low.

Are you tired,

Excited,

Bored?

What is your pain level on a scale of one to five,

Five being the worst?

Where is the pain located?

Make a mental note of this observation of your pain and your energy.

Become aware of your current breath.

Where is the breath landing in your body,

Your chest,

In your ribs,

Your belly,

Your back?

Is your breath shallow or deep,

Fast or slow?

What is the temperature of your breath?

Are you holding your breath?

Is the in-breath or the out-breath longer,

Or are they about the same pace?

The physical body mirrors what is showing up in our psyche.

Our breath can tell us a lot about our state of mind.

Both the mind and the body can get stuck in grooves of discomfort,

Pain,

Tightness,

Constriction.

Over the course of time,

Cyclical or ruminating thoughts such as your fear of pain,

Negative thoughts towards your pain or your body in general,

Or even the story of how this pain came to be,

Can create pathways in the body,

In the brain,

In our nervous system that make these types of thoughts even more habitual and easy.

But the good news is you can create new roads of thought.

You can change your pain.

And we begin to change these thoughts and our brain and our pain in this meditation.

Pain is both an unpleasant and an emotional experience.

You may use words like shooting,

Numbing,

Tingling,

Sharp,

Searing,

Unrelenting,

Electric,

Splitting,

Or many other words to describe your unpleasant sensations.

But let's take a moment to observe your emotions when you think about your pain.

You may use words like annoyed,

Upset,

Scared,

Irritated,

Frustrated,

Numb,

Angry,

Sad,

Exhausted.

On a bad day,

You may experience all of these emotions and more.

It is easy to give our pain all of our attention.

That is pain's job,

To get us to stop or change our behavior.

But how often do we stop to give our undivided attention to a part of our body that feels really good?

This meditation is about practicing just that by exploring our pain and exploring parts of our body that are relaxed and in deep rest.

For now,

Come back to your breathing.

Notice if it has changed.

Observe your body resting.

Ride your attention between the stillness of the body and the movement of your breath.

Scan your body from the head to your toes and see if there is a part of your body that you are tensing and consciously relax it.

Notice your head.

Relax your face.

Aware of your neck relaxing.

Your shoulders.

Your arms.

Your hands.

Relax your spine.

Your abdomen.

Your hips.

Your legs.

Relax your feet.

Relaxing your whole body.

Now bring your attention to a place in your body where you can explore pain.

A place that's not overly sensitive but rather a place that feels safe to look at the pain.

Maybe the pain is less today.

Subtle.

Maybe the pain right now is just discomfort in a part of the body.

Or maybe you have so much pain you can't choose just one spot.

There's no right or wrong answer.

Simply pick a place in your body,

A safe place to observe your pain.

Notice it.

Look at it from the top,

From below,

The left and the right side of your pain.

Imagine you can shrink yourself down in your next breath and enter through your nostrils.

Sink down to the size of a cell and travel through the airway to the place of pain that is safe to look at.

Imagine being in the center of your pain.

Notice how much space your pain takes up.

Where does it start?

Where does it stop?

Again,

There are no right or wrong answers.

Maybe your place of pain has a color,

A shape,

A texture.

Does the pain appear to you fluid or solid?

From the inside of your pain looking out,

When you find the edges of this place of pain,

Are the edges rough or smooth?

Jagged or flowing?

Notice your pain.

Now bring your attention to part of your body where there is no pain sensation.

Maybe you have so much pain,

You have to look towards the tip of your nose to find a pain free zone.

Bring your attention to a place in your body that has no pain at the moment.

Decide on a place that feels safe to look at and witness.

And in the no pain sensation place,

Again imagining that you are as small as a cell,

You can enter this place in your body that feels really good right now.

Enter and look at it from above and below,

From the left and the right.

Imagine being at the very center of this no pain place,

Inside looking out.

How far does the place that feels good in your body expand?

Does your relaxed part of the body have a color,

A texture,

A shape?

What are the edges of this place like?

Maybe this no pain place within your body appears to you as solid or fluid.

Now bring your attention consciously back to the pain place,

The place that feels safe to explore and notice it again.

It's possible your pain has changed and you need to look for a new place that contains pain or discomfort.

Maybe your pain feels the same and you stay right here in this spot.

Find your pain and look at it again from the inside.

Observe it from a broader perspective.

Notice this place of pain that feels safe to look at and be with it.

Are there thoughts,

Feelings or emotions attached to this pain?

Do words come to mind when you're present with this part of your body in pain?

Are there memories?

Does your mind go back to the story of how this pain came to be?

Notice your pain without attachment to a story,

Honor it for what it is.

Whatever comes up is okay.

You are held and supported right now.

Really be aware without interacting with whatever comes up.

Pain is an emotional experience and it's normal to feel whatever it is that you're feeling.

Observe your breath.

Did your breath change when you observed your pain?

If you haven't already,

Make your breath smooth and continuous again.

Notice the stillness of your body and the flow of your breath,

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Once again,

Bring your awareness back to a non-pain place in the body.

Notice,

Explore,

Be a conscious observer,

Curious.

In this non-pain place within your body,

Observe if there are thoughts,

Feelings or emotions present when you look at this part of your body that feels really good to be with and very relaxed.

What color comes to mind when you think of relaxation and peace,

Calm or love?

Enjoy being fully present with this part of your body that feels really great right now.

Give it your attention and imagine that color of calm and love floating lazily within this pain-free part of your body.

Offer up a breath of gratitude for this place that is free of pain,

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Go back for a moment to the place of pain or discomfort in your body.

The place of tension or dis-ease.

Is it changing or the same?

Acknowledge whatever is.

Breathe with it.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Now move your awareness and attention back to the no-pain place,

The place of ease in your body.

Is it changing or the same?

Acknowledge whatever is.

Be with it.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Imagine you are once again in the center of the no-pain place and if you imagined a color attached to this place of ease,

Now visualize that color with each breath.

Observe the place that is very relaxed,

Soaked in the color of peace.

The location in your body that is free of pain begins to spread,

Envelop,

Fold into the places of pain.

Sending your breath to this specific area of your body,

The relaxation and the color of relaxation that you visualize begins to grow within you with each breath.

And you observe the no-pain place begins to touch the edges of the pain place.

The pain-free area of your body smooths out the edges of your pain with your breath and your mind.

See if you can continue to move the soft,

Painless spots of energy into your places of pain.

With each breath,

The painless area of your body is absorbing,

Spreading,

Melting into the places of pain.

Feel the painless,

The ease.

Begin to relieve your pain,

Ironing out the creases where pain begins.

The pain place begins to shrivel,

Shrink,

Dissolve,

And disintegrate before your very eyes.

As each breath,

The pain place grows smaller and smaller until it is almost non-existent.

Maybe the pain disappears altogether.

Bring your attention back to your body resting.

Turn your awareness back to your breathing and notice the movement of the body as you breathe in and breathe out.

Provide your attention between the moving breath and the still body.

Become aware of your whole body resting,

Aware of the space that you occupy in the room,

The sounds that you hear in this moment,

The taste in your mouth,

The touch of the breath in the nostrils.

Do you notice a change in your pain sensations?

Do you notice a change in the level of your pain?

Do you observe feeling more connected to your body and your breath?

Maybe you notice a change in the way you feel towards your pain emotionally.

Has your energy changed since the beginning of this practice?

If you notice the shift has changed your pain,

Congratulations!

You have learned that you have the power to change your pain and you can do it again.

Begin gently awakening by wiggling your fingers,

Your toes.

As you awaken small areas of your body with movement,

Maintain awareness of all the felt sensations in the body,

Honoring your body and moving however you wish to move.

When you're ready,

Rub your palms together,

Drawing warmth and energy into your hands.

Place your cupped hands over your eyes.

Blink your eyes open into your palms,

Slowly letting light in.

Bring your palms back to your day.

Repeat this meditation as needed to change your pain or to change how you feel and connect with your pain.

Reviews

Ironically, I pulled a muscle while sit meditation 😏 Your 30 minute pain space and healing is incredibly appreciated

Thank you. It helped a bit and your voice is soothing.

Thank you for this guided meditation. I keep playing it during an arthritis flare and it it really truly helping. I am so grateful. Thank you.

Thank you!