The Pain Trader,
A guided meditation for pain management with Brian St.
Paul.
Thank you for trying this meditation.
First let's take a moment to get comfortable and settle down.
I recommend you perform this meditation lying on your bed or on a yoga mat.
You'll want to make sure that your body is fully supported.
This is a meditation focused on pain relief,
So you're going to go deeper than you normally would in a standard meditation.
Let's begin with a deep breath in.
All the way in.
And then slowly exhale and let your eyes gently close.
Perfect.
Take another deep breath in.
And out.
This is your time for healing.
There's nowhere you need to be.
There's nothing you need to do.
But relax and listen to my voice.
Take another deep breath in.
Fill your body with fresh air all the way to the top of your head.
And then exhale and relax.
Your body is loosening at every joint.
You can feel yourself sinking down.
Take one more deep breath in.
And breathe out.
Perfect.
Now let your breathing return to its normal pace.
Imagine your eye muscles beginning to glow softly with warmth and relaxation.
You begin to experience a pleasant sensation in your eyelids as if they were being gently massaged by warm down feathers.
And the gentle massaging sensations cause your eyelid muscles to relax more and more with each breath you breathe.
You are breathing out tension and stress with every exhalation.
And breathing in relaxation and peace with every inhalation.
And with every breath the muscles around your eyelids grow more and more heavy and relaxed.
So relaxed that they just want to stay closed as you enjoy your healing journey.
And your mind is calm and clear.
You feel comfortable and relaxed.
You're lying in your bed.
It's the middle of the night and you've woken from sleep.
Your room is dark but there's a warm and flickering light coming from a small glass lantern that is sitting on the nightstand next to you.
Though it burns brightly,
The lantern is cool as you touch it with your fingertips.
You feel the smooth cool glass against your fingers.
Cold on your fingertips.
Leaning against the lantern is a very old looking envelope.
You gently open the envelope and pull out a short note written in a swirling and elaborate script.
The stationary smells of old pipe tobacco and cedar.
You move the lantern to shine on the note.
It says,
Bring me your pain.
My kingdom depends on it.
You will be well rewarded.
And it is signed,
King Nestor.
At the bottom of the letter is a red wax seal with the letter N in the center of it.
The red wax seal is in the shape of a key.
You take the note in your hands,
Feeling the dry and brittle old paper.
And you crack the red seal in half.
You're no longer in your room now.
You find yourself in what appears to be the grand throne room of an ancient eastern king.
You see swirling designs made of gold leaf and shimmering jewels.
Underneath you is a polished marble floor.
It gleams under the light of dozens of oil lamps.
Their flames and shadows flicker across the walls.
You smell incense burning somewhere.
It smells spicy and exotic.
The fragrance is intoxicating and makes you feel relaxed and comfortable.
In the center of the massive room sits the grand throne.
And sitting on that throne is the king.
He is an impressive figure,
Clad in royal robes of deep purple,
Trimmed with intricate gold embroidery.
He greets you with a respectful nod.
I am King Nestor.
Welcome to my kingdom.
Ah,
He says.
You have brought me your pain as I requested.
My kingdom is grateful.
You see I have been known as a wise king,
And my secret is this.
I have come to realize that the flower of wisdom grows out of the soil of suffering.
Pain produces wisdom,
If you see it as a lesson rather than a curse.
My kingdom suffered greatly long ago,
But that produced great wisdom,
And that has led us to a millennia of peace and prosperity.
But now the ages have passed,
And my kingdom has begun to lose its way.
We need to replenish our precious bank of pain so that we can once again produce the wisdom to move forward.
You consider the king's words.
Think of the many lessons your own painful challenges and experiences have taught you over the years.
Can you remember the times when your own suffering led to wisdom and growth?
Just as wisdom grows from pain,
Different kinds of pain produce different kinds of wisdom.
Your pain will produce its own unique wisdom.
King Nestor gestures toward you.
Before I take your pain,
He says,
Receive its wisdom.
Imagine your pain now as a shape.
Is it round with smooth edges,
Or is it sharp and jagged?
What color is it?
What kind of wisdom would this kind of pain produce?
What message does your pain have for you?
Wise King Nestor watches you with a smile.
I see that you have received your wisdom,
He says.
Guard it and keep it close.
Those things we learn in suffering are the most valuable truths we have.
Now I must take your pain from you in exchange.
The king gestures for you to lie down on a wide and firm couch.
You recline onto the couch and you relax every muscle.
Take a few deep breaths now as you sink into the couch and feel the firm surface under you,
Supporting your weight.
Now just for a moment,
Focus your attention on your pain.
Just as much as you're comfortable with.
Just enough to notice it and to feel its location and its strength.
Imagine your pain now as a bright red area on your body.
Maybe it's condensed into a single point,
Or maybe it's an area or a region of your body,
Or maybe it's your entire body.
Wherever your pain is,
Imagine it as bright red.
Now imagine a blue ray,
An intense ray of cooling blue light,
Almost as bright as a laser coming down from the vaulted ceilings of the throne room and flowing down through the bright red painful areas on your body.
You can feel your pain slowly fading in the cool blue light.
The red is fading.
The blue light is a cooling light and it's cooling any painful heat that's there.
The red is fading and fading and fading.
Your pain continues to dissolve away,
Dissolving away in the cooling blue light.
The red is fading.
Now in a moment,
We're going to intensify the blue light.
This will remove any last points of pain or discomfort.
This blue light will get so intense that the light ray will turn a bright emerald green,
A healing green.
Let's do it now.
The ray coming down from the ceiling is now a bright emerald green and it runs throughout your entire body.
You can feel it softly vibrating through every cell in your body.
You feel cool but completely comfortable.
The bright green light is cleansing your cells and dissolving any remaining pain.
And now in a moment,
We're going to turn the light up to its maximum intensity.
This is going to be too bright for your eyes.
So you find a pair of sunglasses placed in a pocket along the side of your couch.
You slip them on over your eyes.
Your eyes are now protected.
We're increasing the strength now.
It's slowly moving up to full strength.
Up.
The light is turning a brilliant bright green.
But your sunglasses are protecting your eyes from the light.
Breathe in the green light.
Feel yourself breathing its soothing,
Vibrating energy into your mouth and your stomach and your lungs and breathe.
Imagine breathing out smoke from every pore,
All the impurities leaving your body.
You can feel the soothing,
Vibrating light in every part of you,
In every corner of your body,
Dissolving away any remaining areas of pain.
Breathe in the green light again,
Filling every corner of your body and purifying every cell and then breathe out smoke through every pore.
One last time.
Breathe in the soothing green light and breathe out clean,
Clear air from your purified body.
You glance up from your couch at King Nestor.
He looks pleased.
You have gifted us with the treasure of your pain and have received wisdom in return.
My kingdom is grateful and so am I.
And now in gratitude and with your newfound knowledge,
I return you to your home.
Whenever you have pain to trade for wisdom,
You are always welcome in my kingdom.
As your time here comes to an end,
Take one final deep breath in,
Filling yourself from bottom to top and then breathe out.
The throne room is fading.
You feel yourself rising up and up.
You feel yourself floating.
You feel so light.
5.
You're coming back to your room,
Back to your body,
Feeling comfortable and refreshed.
4.
You're becoming aware of your fingers and your toes and the spaces around your body.
3.
You can feel the air from the room on your skin.
2.
You imagine cool water running down the top of your head through your hair,
Down your face and the back of your neck.
And 1.
You're awake and you feel peaceful and refreshed.
Welcome back.
