Pain Meditation

The essence of this pain meditation is first to find acceptance and then let go of resistance to the pain. We normally tense around pain which only exacerbates it and creates difficulty elsewhere.

Sit or lie in a position you find comfortable. Allow your focus to go to your breathing and take 12 deep and relaxed breaths in and out. Be aware of your whole body and allow it to be fully present.

Take your awareness to the area of your discomfort or pain. Be open to receive the sensations there. Sense it exactly. With detachment, like a surveyor, map out it’s boundaries.

Trace its outline with your mind. Notice how deep or shallow it is.

Relax into it, using the breath. When noticing pain we tend to hold our breath, as if to resist or pull away from it. Now let the breath be loose and free. When you breathe out, feel you are sliding down the breath into the pain.

Caress the pain with your breath. Seek out the vary epicentre, where the pain is most intense or where it seems to come from. This point may move as you focus on it. Let go of all emotional resistance to it.

Notice that the pain is not solid. It consists of vibrations – throbbing, aching, pulsing, shooting or whatever. Encourage the pain to move in whatever way it want. Give it space to move freely. Let your body be soft around it.

Watch the free play of the pain with curiosity and interest. The pain ay get worse, then diminish, and then appear elsewhere. If one pain subsides go to another and repeat the process: map boundaries, find the epicentre, relax into it using the breath, be soft around the pain and watch it play. Don’t skim across the surface. Let the pain emerge in all its detail.

Notice and release any emotions that may arise as you go into the pain.

Check the body as a whole is actually relaxing and you are not holding tension elsewhere.

Keep the body open and soft. Opening and softening all around the pain. Repeat any of the part of the above, as needed.

Notice your body feeling lighter and easier as you breath. Finish by taking another 6 deep breaths down to your abdominal area.

Source: Based on How Meditation Heals, Body and Mind, by Eric Harrison.