Pain management

In meditation, T’ai-Chi and Qigong the use of the warrior practice of getting to know all that we dislike, by moving towards that which is painful, we get to know our enemy: the pain, or the obstacle. Our habitual tendency is to wish our pain went away, but it is there, we feel it. Accepting this pain is the first step of being able to live with it and also to dissolve it. A useful image to help us to meet our pain is to imagine sitting with a close friend at the kitchen table (a safe and warm place to be) and sharing the intimate details of the heart over a cup of tea or coffee. By making friends with any pain, tension and discomfort of the body or emotions we can start to dissolve and lessen its impact on our lives.

The best way to connect with pain is to take moment to ensure that our breathing is smooth and calm and brought deep down into the body by using the abdominal or natural breath. An easy way to access this calming breathing pattern is to lengthen the out-breath so we completely empty our lungsin a spacious way without effort or pushing. Tell yourself that you have all the time in the world when you start doing this. On each complete out-breath give yourself permission to relax, like you do on holiday, so a smile arises in each molecule of your being. On each in-breath imagine that peace is spreading throughoutyour body and mind. Breathe in peace, beathe ut a smile. As you do this connect to the natural generosity and loving kindness of your heart, our tender and soft spot. Now take your mind directly to the place of pain, develop a friendship with the pain, ask why it is there, find out what it wishes to say to you – the metaphorical sharing of a cuppa with a friend over the kitchen table. Soften into the pain, imagine it dissolving as you consciously breath clouds of kindness into its centre from your heart. Relax, release, rest. Continue doing this as you nurture and get to know your pain.

Developing an ongoing practice of noticing where pain and tension arise in your body, and getting accustomed to softening into your pain is a very useful skill for living an easier life. When we tense and wish we did not have the pain, we create a ring of tension that can amplify it.

Do contact me if you find this diffuclt to understand or put into practice. You can learn more by coming along to any of my Qigong sessions, I hold a regular lunchtime class in Monmouth at Bridges Centre, Thursday 12.30 -1.30 and in Pontypool at Widdershins, 2.30 - 4 each Thursday. Or better still, join me for one of the Holy Isle residential Qigong & Meditation Retreats, details can be found at my web site: sueweston.com