Begin by moving the body into the position that you have found the most effective at alleviating the pain somewhat.
Now deepening your breathing and just being aware of the sensations of breathing.
Just seeing how much the body is willing to relax at this time.
We cannot force the body to relax,
We cannot make it let go,
But just for this time form a gentle agreement with your own body to just see if it's willing to release some of that tension.
It is most likely holding on tightly in certain areas due to the pain.
Just begin to breathe into those areas,
Just noticing the tension there.
And if the body is willing to just soften slightly,
Even just gradual gentle expansion in that area,
Gently releasing,
Gently softening.
You will find the body can go as far as it can go with that and already this begins to just ease that sense of tension and tightness throughout the whole body system.
Slow the breathing down,
Just notice the breathing,
Allowing the breath to rise and fall slowly,
Deeply.
Knowing that we may not be able to relax the whole way at this time,
That's okay.
This is just gently moving towards relaxation,
Easing off the tension,
Easing off the tightness.
Bring your awareness entirely into the here and now.
No more worrying about future pain,
No more thinking about previous pain.
For the duration of this meditation,
Let's simply focus on what is happening now.
The current experience,
The present moment.
Throughout this meditation,
Continue to breathe as deeply as you can and remain fully within the present moment,
Just the here and now.
Do not allow the mind to wander to thoughts of the future or to the past.
We are alleviating the stress relating to the pain now.
Breathing deeply into the here and now.
Open your awareness to the entire body and simply notice what it is to be aware of bodily sensation.
Begin practicing the ability to observe without any analysis.
So find an area of the body that is not currently experiencing any pain and focus entirely on that area.
Just aware of the sensations in that neutral part of the body and devote the entirety of your attention to that area.
This may be a challenge,
I know,
But gently yet firmly and with discipline move your attention towards that neutral area of the body in which there is no pain and really feel that area.
Even if there isn't much going on there,
There isn't really much to be aware of,
That is okay,
That is good.
How does that sensation feel?
And really do this now,
This is powerful,
This is part of the practice.
That neutral area that does not contain a great deal of any sensation at all,
Just feel it,
Just feel it.
And see if it's possible to feel that area without any labels,
Without any words,
Without any analysis,
Without even a visual image of what that body part looks like,
Just the sensation itself with nothing added.
How interesting it is to simply feel the sensation with no words,
No opinion,
No good or bad,
No right or wrong,
Just the raw,
Pure sensation.
Neither pleasant nor unpleasant,
It just is.
Very good.
Continuing to breathe deeply,
Let's not lose sight of that deep slow breathing and remaining in the here and now.
Move your attention now to the areas of the body that are feeling pain.
You may have been feeling this pain for some time and it may be quite severe,
So you may not wish to do this,
But try as best you can now with that same firmness,
With that same discipline,
Just open your awareness to that area.
I know it's hard.
And just allow your awareness to fully be in that area.
How does the pain actually feel in the here and now?
Do not refer to anything from the past,
Nor anything from the future,
Just now.
What is the experience of pain now?
And now applying that same neutral awareness.
No labels,
No names,
No visual image of the body part or area,
No medical terms,
No physical understanding of biology,
Just forget all of that.
Instead,
Just focus on the awareness of the experience itself.
No more words,
No more images,
Just the sensation itself.
There is an intensity to it,
There is a rawness to it,
A vividness to it,
But without any of the mind activity added,
You will find that the sensation itself is not stressful.
It is just an intense sensation.
And have the courage to open your awareness now to really feel it raw,
Intense,
Pure.
And try to relax into it.
Do not tighten up around it,
Do not try to get away from it,
Do not try to hold yourself in a certain way,
Just feel it.
Just feel it,
Just feel it.
Open,
Open,
Open.
And now dropping the visual image that you have in your mind about your entire body.
Just completely erase this image for a moment.
Completely remove the entire narrative that has led up to this point.
So we are attaching no stories,
No narratives,
No mental images to this pain.
There is no situation or circumstance,
There is nothing at all other than this sensation.
And now visualise the sensation as though it were a bright light.
There is no physical body here now,
Just the sensation of pain.
But that sensation of pain is now just a bright light.
That is all.
No body,
No biology,
No stories,
No analysis,
No opinions,
Just light.
That is all that's there.
Intense,
Vivid,
Shining,
Sharp,
But it's just light.
Breathing deep and allow the to be as bright as it needs to be at this time.
It may grow or shrink,
May shimmer or twinkle,
But it's just light,
That's all it is.
The sensation is just light,
Nothing more.
Allow the field that you usually experience as a body to all become this light.
The entire sensation of the bodily field.
It's just light,
That's all.
Clear,
Bright,
And without any physical substance.
An object could pass right on through.
Just bright,
Pure,
Clear,
Empty,
Shining.
Allow the light to expand.
It may have been so bright,
It's almost blinding.
You may find yourself shifting back and forth between the visualisation of light and the body again.
It may take a few tries to really get to grips with this practice,
But just keep returning to the light visualisation.
Just light,
Light,
Light.
The more intense the pain is,
The brighter the light is,
That is all.
Through this deep breathing and this new way of experiencing the sensation of pain,
You find that there is a diminishing of the tension and stress around the pain.
By keeping up this practice,
You will find that in time,
Things begin to change.
A new way of experiencing the body,
And you have felt this now in your experience.
This was not read out of a textbook or told to you a doctor,
But you experienced this for yourself,
So you know there must be something in it.
In a moment,
We are going to be leaving the formal aspect of this meditation,
And at some point you begin to return to the negative emotional state that has been attached to and associated with the pain that you are in.
From this point on,
Any time that you notice that there is a negative emotional charge to what you are experiencing in the body,
Just return to the breath.
Try to relax the body as best as possible,
And then go to that light visualization immediately.
No opinions,
No analysis,
No future,
No past,
No stories or narratives,
No visual image of a body or biology.
Instead,
Feel the sensation as light.
Thank you so much for doing this meditation with me today.
I know how challenging this particular suffering is.
I am speaking from a great deal of experience in myself in this area.
I can also attest to the power of meditation in alleviating chronic and intense pain.
This really does work.
It just requires patience and courage.
Thank you for doing this meditation with me today.
Take care,
Be well,
And stay present.
