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This week, Christiane Wolf presents a guided exercise designed to help you confront your pain and alleviate feelings of isolation by connecting internally with those who share your experience.
Living with chronic pain can be profoundly isolating. You might not know anyone else with the same condition. Additionally, even those close to you, despite their good intentions, may struggle to truly understand what you’re experiencing.
However, it’s important to remember that countless individuals across the globe are familiar with your feelings. In this meditation, Christiane Wolf guides you to engage with your body in pain, easing that sense of solitude by forging an internal bond with others who empathize and genuinely care about what you’re going through.
A Meditation for Embracing the Body in Pain
Follow the guided meditation script below, taking pauses after each paragraph, or listen to the audio version.
- Begin by settling into a position that is comfortable for you. You can either lie down for this meditation or sit in a chair. Feel free to close your eyes or soften your gaze, depending on what feels right in this moment. If you’re seated, place your feet flat on the ground. Acknowledge the solid support of the ground beneath you, or feel the texture of the floor or carpet through your shoes or bare feet. Sit or lie with your back as straight as is comfortable, leaning against the back of the chair for support.
- Let your body relax, if you can. Try to ease any tension in your jaw, shoulders, or belly. Take a few deep, slow breaths and become aware of the sensations of your breath in your body, whether in your chest or abdomen. With each exhale, see if you can let go of more tension.
- Now, pay attention to any pain you’re experiencing right now, whether physical or emotional. There’s no need to go into specifics; just get a general sense of the pain you carry. As a first step, try to acknowledge how challenging it is to deal with this pain and care for it. If it feels appropriate, you might say to yourself something like, This is tough. It’s hard to feel this way. Use reassuring words similar to what you would hope a close friend would say to you in this situation.
- If you wish, repeat this a few times. See if you can listen to yourself while expressing these feelings genuinely. You might find comfort in hearing those words, or you might notice some resistance in accepting them. Whatever your emotional response is, know that it’s perfectly valid. There’s no right or wrong way to approach this.
- Chronic pain can often feel isolating. You may not know anyone else coping with the same health issues, and most people around you, even if well-meaning, might not grasp what you’re enduring. Nonetheless, there are thousands of individuals across the globe who understand exactly what you feel. Many of them may share the same condition as you.
- Now, visualize all those individuals in your mind. They can appear as a few people or a larger group, all standing beside you in solidarity with your pain. I like to imagine them surrounding me, standing at my shoulders, because they truly get my experience. They share similar feelings and understand without needing elaboration from me.
- Continue to engage with this idea as it resonates with you. Reflect on what helps make this connection easier, remembering that many others empathize with your pain. You are not alone. Should your thoughts wander, gently redirect them back to this supportive inner community.
- When you feel ready, let the imagery fade away. Take several deeper breaths, focusing on lengthening your exhales. Gradually wrap up the meditation by moving and stretching your body in a way that feels good. If your eyes were closed, open them now.
Thank you for taking the time to practice today.
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