Navigating pain with mindfulness
Whether it is physical pain or emotional pain, we can support ourselves using the practice of mindfulness. But what does this actually mean — does it help us accept all of our experience, or help us do something to change it? Sometimes being with our pain can help us process it and take skilful action, other times it may be too overwhelming and add extra pressure. What mindfulness does is allow ourselves the space to make a choice, to check in and know what is best for us in that moment.
While we often hear that our pain needs to be felt, it can be a lot to handle in one go. We might find that it is too much to tolerate just now. And in these moments, it may be supportive to feel into the space around the pain, the wider sense of ourselves, remembering that there is more to us than the parts that are hurt.
When we practise bringing to mind pleasant experiences and feeling the sensations in our whole body, we increase our capacity for enjoyable feelings, so that we can reach them even in challenging times. You might like to try cultivating pleasant feelings in your meditation practice, exploring the areas of your body which are relaxed or free of pain and tension. Dr Elizabeth English has recorded a guided Enjoyment meditation you can follow along with in your own time.
If pleasant feelings seem like too much of a stretch in times of suffering, we can note our reactions to the pain with curiosity and investigate what we are adding to our experience. Perhaps there is a sense of aversion, and we can notice just how much we do not want to be feeling this way. We might be questioning why this is happening to us, and if we are the only one feeling this way. When we strip back to what is really true, it may feel more manageable.
However, we can’t avoid pain, it will find its way to be felt eventually. Sometimes, the only way is through. It might feel very tight and localised, with a lot of tension and bracing around it, and one way of relieving that is visualising the whole body holding it. You might find the image of the pain trickling outwards like a river or branching out like a tree helpful. With the support of your entire body, you may find it dilutes the pain and boosts your capacity to tolerate it.
But most of all, mindfulness teaches us that nothing lasts forever. The pain may feel all consuming in this moment, but if we remember the idea of impermanence, it can give us hope.
May you find your light at the end of the tunnel.
Written by Caryn Yeow, March 2021
