-IBIS-1.5.0-
rx
meditation
pain (exploration)
psychospiritual approaches
definition
Each of these meditations may be read very slowly to a friend or silently to oneself.
Exploring pain:
Sit or lie down in some position as comfortable as possible. Take a few deep soft breaths as you let your body settle into its position.
Bring your awareness into the body. Gradually, let the awareness come to the area of sensation in the body.
Let the body soften all around these sensations. The whole area, soft and open.
Let the tissues soften. Let the flesh soften, so that nothing holds on to the pain. Ligaments soften. Muscles soften.
Don't push the pain away. Just let it be there. Allow the body to soften all about it. To open.
Let it just be as it is.
Don't hold it. Don't resist. Just open softness.
Let the pain float free in the body. Let the sensation be felt in the vastness of awareness.
Gently, allow the whole body to become like open space. No holding. No tension.
Let go all around the pain. Almost at the cellular level, let the flesh soften. Let it become pliant and open. No contraction. No pushing it away. Let the whole body be soft. Even the bones. The tissue.
Soft and open. All about the area of sensation.
Let go of any tension in the breath. Let the body just breathe by itself. Let the body be an open space in which sensation is received without the least interference.
In the mind, where ideas and thoughts of pain cause tightness, gently let go. If you notice thoughts of "tumor," of "cancer," creating fear, soften all about such thoughts. Let go of fear. Let if float free in the mind. Just notice any ideas of pain, desires to escape, fears of being trapped. Don't close around them.
Let these thoughts arise and pass away by themselves. Soften all about them. Old thoughts creating old resistance.
Let go of resistance in the body, in the mind. Let each experience float in the soft, open body. In the spaciousness of the mind.
Notice if fear looks for a way out. "When will this pain end?" "Where did it come from?" "How can I get rid of it?" Such thoughts intensify pain. Cause contraction in the body and the mind.
Allow the moment to be received fully. Let the mind be soft and open and yielding. Whatever thought arises. Let it come and let it go. No need to protect yourself. No need to hide. Just the soft, open mind, without the least interference.
Let the body become like an ocean. Each sensation floating gently to the surface.
Let the body be open and fluid and soft. The hardness melting away. The rigidity dissolving in the vast open sea of awareness. Feel the waves of sensation in the ocean of the body. Feel the still depths. Softening. Opening.
Now, gently direct your attention toward the pain. Without tightening. Without even trying to make it go away. Allow the attention to enter directly into sensation. Investigate this thing called pain.
What is the truth of this experience. What is pain?
If the mind is unsteady in its approach to the sensation, focus on the moment to moment flow of sensation in that area. Allow your attention to enter directly into the very center of sensation. Experience it directly. Pain is not the enemy.
For just this moment explore its reality. What is the texture? As you enter deeply into the moment to moment change in sensation, at the very center of the area of discomfort, what is the weave, the fabric of this sensation?
Let the body and mind stay soft and open. Allow the truth of this moment to reveal itself in a mind that is not holding or fearful.
What is the feel of this sensation? Is it hot? Is it cold? Allow the mind to penetrate into the moment to moment flow of sensation.
Does it stay in one place? Does it move? Is it round and hard? Is it flat and soft? Does it have tendrils that move through the body?
Let the attention merge with the sensation. Become one with it. In the moment to moment changes. Penetrate each particle of sensation. Receive each sensation as it arises. Like carefully listening to a melody, note by note. Don't push ahead of yourself. Don't hold back. Just enter fully into the moment. Tune to the instant to instant flow of sensation.
Is it solid? Or constantly changing?
Does it stay in one place? Or is it amoeba-like, constantly altering its boundaries? Varying in intensity from one area to another, from one moment to the next.
Let the mind become one with the sensation. Soft. Open. Entering directly. Notice any tension in the mind or body. Soften.
Investigate. What is this sensation? Is it a solid mass? Or constantly moving?
Is it experienced as a knot? As a pressure? As a tingling? A vibrating?
What color is it?
Is it heavy or light?
Moment to moment change. Sensation arising and passing away. Instant to instant. Enter that flow. Letting go of all resistance. Letting go of any idea of what is being done. Discover the truth for yourself. The sensation just floating in the vastness of awareness. Changing. Moment to moment.
Is it a single point of sensation? Or multiple tinglings that vary from point to point?
Is it weighty and hot? Or light and cool?
Without the least force, enter directly into the moment to moment experience of sensation. The mind steady and awake in its very midst. Experiencing it as it is. In the vast spaciousness of the mind. Not holding. Not even thinking. Just receiving this moment. The direct experience of what is. Unfolding. Instant to instant.
Now gently bring your attention back to the even flow of the breath and allow your eyes to open as they wish.
letting it all float free
Bring your attention to the area of discomfort.
Begin to soften all around that area. Let the pain just be there. Open around it. Let all the resistance melt away. Let the skin, the flesh, the muscles begin to soften all around the pain.
Let the fist that grasps pain begin slowly to open. Releasing tension, releasing rigidity around sensations. Let the muscles soften, relaxing. No tightness anywhere.
Let the pain just be there. Not holding it. Not pushing it away.
Soften the ligaments. The flesh. Let the sensations float free in the body. Without force. Without tension. Open all around the sensation. Gently. Pushing away nothing. Let all resistance melt from the body.
And in the mind. That same softening. That same nonholding. Letting go of thoughts. Opening into the spaciousness of awareness.
Whatever thought arises, let it float free. Whatever sensation arises, let it float free. Thoughts of pain, floating in the vastness of the mind.
Soften all around the thought. Experience the space in which it floats. Fear. Doubt. Softening. Floating free.
Each mind-moment, like a bubble, floating in the vast spaciousness of awareness. Whatever arises in the body, in the mind. Doubt. Confusion. Expectation. Fear. Just let it pass through. It's there one moment, dissolved the next.
Notice the ever changing flow of thoughts and sensations. Constantly arising and disappearing into the vastness of awareness.
Sensations float in the body. Changing. Moment to moment. Thoughts float in the mind. Constantly in change. Constantly unfolding.
The whole body soft. Open. Relaxed. Not holding. Not pulling back.
Let sensations arise into this openness. A soft, nonclinging space that just allows things to be as they are. No interference. Sensations arising. Thoughts arising. No resistance. No reaching out for them. No pushing them away. No tightening. Just soft, open space. Each moment experienced in vast awareness.
The sound of my voice arising and dissolving in the open space of awareness. Hearing happening all by itself. Nothing to do. Just sound changing, instant to instant, within your vastness.
Feel the spaciousness of being that expands outward in every direction, encompassing each sound and sight. A moment of hearing followed by a moment of seeing. By a moment of thought. All floating in the vast space of mind. The sound of my voice. A car passing in the street. An airplane crossing overhead. All occurring within the endless spaciousness of awareness.
Let the mind become like a vast sky. Each experience like a cloud floating, constantly changing, folding in upon itself, dissolving in the vastness. Feel how awareness exists everywhere at once. Boundaryless.
The edgeless space of being. No longer held to the outline of the body. To the space of the room. Awareness constantly expanding into unlimited space.
Let awareness become like the sky. Which holds nothing. Which creates nothing. Which allows all things to pass. Without the least clinging or interference. Observe sound. Sight. Memory. Feeling. Arising and dissolving in the open sky of awareness.
Notice that all sound is happening within this spaciousness. All thought. All feeling. All floating within endless awareness. No edges anywhere. All that occurs, occurs within your vastness. The limitless spaciousness of awareness.
Body soft. Mind, open and clear.
Let the edges of the body, of the mind, melt into the vastness. The body. Sensations. Feelings. Floating in vast space. Each moment of changing sensation floating free in pure awareness. A moment of memory. A moment of fear. A moment of joy. Ever-changing clouds in the open sky. Each thought, each sensation floating free in edgeless awareness.
In this vastness the mind and body are just thought bubbles floating in open, endless, space.
Awareness itself. Containing everything, holding nothing.
The whole mind dissolved into vast openness.
The body, sensations, floating, dissolving into space.
Dissolving.
Dissolving.
Just space. Just peace.
(Levine, p. 134-145)
see:
cancer treatments: immune enhancement (includes types of meditation)
compassion and healing
healing power of meditation
healing power of prayer
meditation: forgiveness
meditation: pain (beyond the body; exploration; float free; opening; relaxation)
mind beyond body
relaxation techniques
self-hypnosis
treatment of chemotherapy side-effects
treatment of pain
footnotes