Some exercises to try:
Here I have included a few simple exercises followed by a complete meditation if you wish to try something more formal. These are all from my own experience but based on sound medical research.
1) Learn how to breathe. ‘I am breathing in, I am breathing out’ – repeat this and keep your focus only on your breath. It is simple and effective; allow your breathing to naturally slow and deepen if you are able and each time your mind wanders to anything other than your breath, gently bring it back. This exercise will encourage the Relaxation Response (see Dr. Herbert Benson) and the more you practise it the better.
NB: a difference between acute and chronic pain – acute pain can rarely be ‘got rid of’ using breathing techniques however the breath is a fantastic tool for coping with acute pain until it passes. I used only the breath when passing a kidney stone whilst giving birth to my 9lb plus son, so I can vouch for it working! Chronic pain occurs when the body becomes hypersensitive to pain so we can calm those receptors down and feel less pain using breathing and visualisation techniques.
2) Learn how to relax. Listen to music, watch the clouds, imagine warm sunlight being poured over your body from your head to your toes. Imagine sitting in a beautiful garden. Listen to guided meditations. Give yourself the gift of a little time to just be. Remember the saying ‘you are a human being, not a human doing.’
3) Learn how to sleep but also how to be awake. Learning how to sleep well is a huge part of feeling better but accepting being awake and being ok with it is also important. When you wake in the night use the time to practise your breathing or your body scans, remind yourself of anything you can be grateful for: a warm bed, clean water to drink etc., and be kind to yourself the next day. Punishing your body for keeping you awake the night before will not help.
4) Use affirmations. Tell yourself ten times each morning and evening something positive, e.g. ‘I am recovering’. You won’t believe it at first, but you will come to believe it and the mind is a powerful tool in our own healing or our own self-destruction. (See Dr. David R. Hamilton and Louise Hay).
5) If you can learn a healing light or a healing breath meditation use these whenever you are in acute pain. By breathing into the affected part of the body you increase the blood flow and by visualising healing taking place you release tension and reduce the pain and also encourage the healing proteins in your body to get to work. I use these for everything from headaches to joint pain to stomach spasms.
Making peace with pain meditation
This is a shorter, simpler version of a meditation I teach which is based on the work of Vidyamala Burch, Dr. David R. Hamilton and others.
First complete a breathing and relaxation exercise, just two to three minutes of centering and bringing your awareness to being in the present moment.
Allow a sense of kindness to come to your breathing…imagine it soothing the body as you breathe in and out…if you find that too difficult at first, simply breathe with the intention of kindness to your body…
Now just sit with whatever you are experiencing. Allow yourself to open to this experience…unpleasant experiences are an unavoidable part of life.
Then begin to breathe love and kindness into any areas of pain or discomfort…treat your pain as you would a child.
Bring to mind the part of your brain which deals with pain…at the moment it probably resembles a battle field…the place where you have been fighting your condition…there is no need to fight yourself any longer so imagine the battlefield being cleared…you could imagine beautiful light, warm gentle rain, a powerful but gentle wind, or anything that clears the whole area. Now the field is just a field, so you can begin to plant flowers…see the whole area turn into a beautiful garden…a place of healing and peace.
Allow that healing to grow with compassion for yourself…feel love and compassion flowing from your heart into every part of your body…imagine yourself loved, and as happy and healthy as you can be…
When this comes to a natural conclusion allow the images to fade, bring your attention back to your breathing and prepare to open your eyes. You may like to finish with an affirmation.
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