Unpacking The True Nature Of Pain

When we instinctively react to pain because we don't want it to be there,

We turn it into something quite solid and disturbing,

And we turn it into suffering.

Instead,

We can allow it to move through and be liberated,

Which means that it has much less power in disturbing our sense of peace.

Looking directly into pain's nature and realizing its true,

Empty nature can really help with this process.

Now,

When I say empty,

I don't mean there's nothing there,

Because I'm sure you can feel something there,

But I mean that it's empty of being as solid,

Fixed,

And enduring as we normally perceive it to be.

So instead of turning away from the pain or contracting around it,

Wanting to stop it,

We unpack it a little bit and see what it's actually made of.

You discover the fluid,

Ever-changing nature of pain and how it is actually just a process of energy moving through.

The less we get entangled with it,

The less power it has over us as a threat,

And it gradually changes your entire relationship with the pain.

Life is passing you by moment to moment,

And to spend so much time locked in pain,

Not being able to engage with the life in the way that you'd like,

Is unfair.

I totally understand,

I know how limiting it can be,

But as you get used to dis-identifying with the pain,

The more inner peace and courage you feel to get back out there and enjoy your life.

So that's what we'll do in this practice.

We'll spend a little while grounding,

Becoming present in the body,

And then we'll look into the nature of pain as it arises,

Relax,

And let it transform.

As we move into the meditation,

Find yourself somewhere comfortable to be.

Close your eyes,

Let your body relax into a natural but supported position,

And allow yourself a little while to arrive into the meditation.

Start to become aware of the feelings and sensations of your breath within your body.

The air coming in and out of your nose and throat.

The sensations of your lungs,

Ribs,

And abdomen rising and falling as you breathe.

And the rhythm of it.

Following the length of each in-breath and each out-breath.

Gradually relaxing and settling.

And take your awareness deeper into the body.

Feeling deep into your head.

And allowing your head,

Neck,

And face all to deeply relax down towards the ground.

Slowly moving down into your shoulders,

Letting them relax down.

And feeling deep into the shoulders,

Into its muscles and joints.

Feeling deep down into your arms and letting them be heavy and relaxed.

Allow your whole trunk to deeply relax into the ground supporting it.

And with a sense of bare awareness,

Notice what you feel in your trunk.

Moving down into your legs,

Feeling deep into its muscles and joints.

And letting both your legs really relax down and be heavy.

You can breathe a long,

Slow out-breath.

And allow your whole body to relax down into the sense of ground below.

Letting everything be as it is.

There's no need to change anything or stop anything or judge anything.

If you get distracted,

See if you can let go of the thought.

Kind of like you're letting go of a helium balloon.

Let it fly off and do what it needs to do.

And gently come back to your breath.

And back into feelings and sensations in the body.

Relaxing deeply into the ground.

As you relax,

You can have a sense that your whole body is breathing.

Like your skin is permeable.

And this breathing process gradually softens the holding to your sense of form.

Gradually,

Your awareness expands out,

Becoming more spacious and open.

Resting in quiet,

Spacious,

Open awareness.

Letting everything just be as it is.

If you feel pain in your body,

Let's spend some moments looking into it slowly.

See if you can find a little courage to allow it's nature.

As it arises in your consciousness,

First check if there's tension in your body.

Unconsciously trying to hold it down.

Let your body soften and relax.

And see if you can find a little courage to allow it's space to be there.

If you notice any stories around the pain,

Try to drop those concepts and let's look into it's nature.

Notice where in the body you find this pain.

Is it one place or multiple places?

Does it move or not?

Can you find a specific point where you could put a circle around it and say,

There,

That's the pain.

Or not.

What are all the sensations of it in your body?

Remember just the raw sensations.

Letting everything else go.

Does it have a solid edge to it or not?

And could you find a specific point within that area of pain,

Where you could put it in a box and say,

There,

That's the pain.

Or not.

Does it have a particular energy tone or vitality to it?

Or maybe a pattern of movement to it.

And could you grab it or grasp it with your hand or not?

Does it have a sense of space to it?

Or is it something solid?

Can you notice the ever changing nature of it?

How it's not something as solid and fixed as you normally feel it is.

But actually,

By unpacking it a little,

It's not quite as solid and overpowering as you normally know it to be.

With the quality of a long,

Slow out-breath,

Deeply relax your body,

Becoming more spacious again.

Giving everything as much space as it needs and allow the energy of the pain to move through and evaporate,

Allowing it to liberate.

You might need to keep doing this every time you notice yourself contracting around the pain.

Relax and allow the energy of it to move through and dissolve away.

If you're feeling unsure of whether it's happening or not,

Don't worry.

Just be present in your space of awareness.

Allow yourself to relax and let things be as they are and notice whatever you notice.

Allow yourself to really relax into the ground below you and spend a few moments resting in the calm that's there.

And before you open your eyes,

You can have a deep,

Nourishing stretch of your body.

Or you could do a little shaking session if you like.

Letting your arms and legs and face,

Shoulders,

Everything have a little shake.

Shaking off all the residual energy and leaving you feeling rested and peaceful.

You might have heard the saying before,

This too shall pass.

And it is so true.

Nothing in life is fixed and permanent.

Everything is in constant change.

So on days when your pain is heightened and it feels really hard,

It's helpful to reflect on this ever-changing nature and remember that your pain won't stay like that.

I'm sure you've experienced days where the pain is at its peak and also days when the pain is lower for whatever reason.

Somehow,

Every time the pain heightens,

There's a fear that arises that it's always going to be like that.

But this simply isn't true.

For me,

When I have bad days,

Like 10 out of 10 pain,

And it becomes hard to hold,

I just remind myself that probably tomorrow it won't be as bad.

So all I've got to do is get through today.

Changing our relationship to pain can take some time,

But it is well worth the effort.

Once you start to get used to a different way of being with your pain in meditation,

This capacity will steadily grow into your normal daily life and will become a true resource for you in your life infused with pain.

If you're someone who lives in pain and you found this talk in meditation helpful,

You can have a look at my course,

Finding Peace While Living in Pain,

Where I guide you gradually through the journey that really helped me to live peacefully amongst my pain.

Hopefully it can give you a new perspective and understanding and somehow make a difference for you too.