Hello and welcome to The Daily Insight.
My name is Giovanni Dienstman.
I am a meditation teacher and the author of Practical Meditation.
Today's practice focuses on learning to manage and release physical pain.
May you have a restorative meditation.
Start by taking in a long,
Deep breath.
Now hold for some moments.
Feel the breathing filling every cell of your body with energy.
Then release fully.
Empty your lungs fully.
Feel the release.
Now closing your mouth and breathing normally.
Pain and suffering are different things.
Pain is a physical sensation,
But suffering is a mental reaction to that sensation.
Meditation teaches you to respond to the sensation of pain with relaxation and kindness,
Rather than aversion and agitation.
Now scan your body for sensations of pain.
Become aware where in your body the pain is residing.
If there is more than one sensation of pain,
Then focus on the strongest one.
Simply pay close attention to the sensation.
Be there with it.
Don't run away.
Study the sensations with a curious mind,
A neutral mind,
And see what you can learn about it.
Continue to be aware of the sensations of pain in your body.
And consciously breathe through them.
Imagine that you're breathing in through that body part,
And also breathing out through that body part.
With every inhalation,
Visualize a soothing light spreading through the whole pain area.
It brings relief.
With every exhalation,
You consciously let go of the pain.
Release the pain a little bit more,
With every exhalation.
Do that for a few moments.
This short exercise introduced you to a mindful way of dealing with physical pain.
I encourage you to listen to the longer version of today's insight,
So you'll learn more tools to deal with pain.
And please share with us in the comments,
How did your experience of pain changed after this meditation?
Take care.
