Shifting Pain

Module 3.5

1. Sit or lie in a comfortable position.

3. Take three deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose, allowing your belly to expand.

4. Bring your awareness to each part of your body from your toes up to your head, as in the body awareness exercise.

5. Focus on an area of your body in which you feel pain.

6. Notice the quality of the pain sensation as in the quality of sensation exercise. What type, size, density, temperature, and color is it? 

7. Ask your pain, “What are you trying to tell me?” and listen for or observe a response. After several breaths, move to the next step.

8. Find a relieving visualization for your pain, for example, if the pain is burning and red, imagine that you have a powerful vessel of cooling water that you slowly pour over it. See if you are able to pour enough to begin to cool the pain. If your pain is cold and solid, see if you can warm and liquefy it. If it is dense and hard, see if you can dissolve it or blow wind through it or pull it apart, like a knot of rope. If it is moving like a snake or liquid mercury, find a container to catch it and contain it. Continue to breathe deeply into the area of your pain while you do your relieving visualization. If the pain shifts shapes, shift your relieving strategy. 

9. Minimize the size of your pain by imagining that you are gathering it into a box or container, withdrawing it from the far corners of your body with your hands, a tool, or a vacuum cleaner. You can even close the container and lock it. Feel the pain reduce in size and intensity.

10. Now, take a moment to focus on an area of your body that is not in pain. Breathe into the relaxation and flow present in that area.

11. Take a deep breath and give thanks to your body for speaking with you.