Meditation for Dealing with Pain and to Alleviate Suffering (79)

So I don't know if I've shared this with you all before , but today you're going to get to hear the tale of why I really learned that I needed to dedicate myself to taking care of my body and mind , and particularly through yoga and mindfulness . When I was 20 , I got shingles in my right eye and almost lost my eyesight .

For those who don't know what shingles is , typically , it's not something that happens until you're older like typically over 60 , and it's typically caused by extreme stress or a weakened immune system . I didn't think I was stressed at the time , but my body told me that I was .

So , after a long process of healing , I've learned how to work with the post-shingles pain , to check in when I'm too stressed and overwhelmed , and to better take care of my body and mind . I've dedicated my life's work to taking care of mental and physical well-being within myself and sharing that support with others .

So you can imagine that I had a lot of feelings come up last week when I started to feel shingles pain in my right eye again , almost 10 years to the date of the first outbreak .

And when I was in this moment of feeling intense pain in my eye I almost lost my eyesight the first time a lot of triggered stress that came up from it , a lot of worry and anxiety arising . I remembered something while . I remembered two things . First and this is what saves me time and time again was my breath .

I remembered to inhale and then to exhale a little bit longer than I was inhaling , taking really intentional , long and slow breaths . And what was wild is I could feel when I wasn't breathing that way , when I was getting caught up in my mind , in my stress cycle , the pain in my eye was worse .

When I deep into my breath , I could feel my stress response calming and I could feel the pain in my eye diminishing not going away , but less . And then I remembered Shenzhen Young's equation of suffering equals pain times , resistance .

I'm laying on my bed with an ice pack on my eye , trying not to freak out till I can get to the doctor , and I'm thinking to myself like right now I've got like 10 units of pain right and I'm adding like 100 units of resistance because I'm upset that it's here . I don't understand why it's here . I'm mad at myself that it's here .

Am I going to lose my eyesight ? Is it going to be like last time ? Is that cycle going to repeat ? And then I'm suffering like way more than I need to . So I was like , okay , this pain is enough . Right now I don't need to suffer any more than the pain that I'm feeling . So can I let go of that resistance ? It's here . Can I breathe with the pain ?

Bring that resistance to zero and not suffer and just be with the pain ? So by letting go of the resistance and deepening my breath , I was able to calm myself down , get a good night's rest and go to the doctor first thing in the morning and take the steps I needed to take to start healing .

So this last week I've been in a heightened space of really needing to rest and to listen to what my body needs , not what my mind wants me to do , but what my body is truly telling me .

And it is so much easier said than done and it requires a lot , a lot of practice , especially in the moments when things are going well , because it's a lot harder to do when things aren't .

So today's meditation , we're going to focus on releasing that resistance of whatever pain is there Maybe it's physical , maybe it's mental and deepening the breath , calming our stress response , letting our body and mind rest , reset , relax and then truly listening to our body , and I promise this is what has saved me time and time again .

Each time I am in a moment of acute intensity , whether it be physical pain or a big emotional stress , this is the breath I come to , this is what grounds me , this is what carries me through life . So , settle in and find a space that feels safe and supportive for you . And let's get started .

So , wherever you are , just start to notice , like physically , where are you right now ? Use your sense of sight , name a few objects around you you can gently rest your eyes or soften your gaze , notice where your body makes contact with the earth , notice where you feel the breath flowing through the body , and take a big breath in and a big breath out .

Inhale , fill your chest and your belly with air and exhale . Let it all go Again . Inhale and exhale and just notice the rhythm of your breath . Here and come back to this equation Suffering equals pain , times , resistance . So , as you're sitting here right now . Notice what pain is present , because , right , pain is a part of being human , it's a part of life .

What pain is here with you right now ? Is it a thought that keeps pulling your attention away ? Or maybe it's beating yourself up when a thought does ? Is it a really intense physical pain ? Is it something else ? So notice what that thing is and then give it like a number One to ten , give it its units of pain .

How many units of pain are alive right now for you ? And then think about how much are you resisting it . If it's that you feel like you're not quote-unquote meditating right , are you beating yourself up when the mind wanders ? Maybe the mind wandering is like two units and you're adding like 15 units . What is that thing ? Was it like ?

Where you , like me , you had a physical pain and then your mind added a lot of resistance to make it a lot more suffering than needed ? So just notice that resistance and how much is that making you suffer ? And now I want you to come back to that pain and take a big breath in and a big breath out .

So if it's a part of the body , maybe , rather than resisting it , you bring your attention there as you inhale and exhale and slowly begin to deepen the breath as you breathe in and as you breathe out . And as you start to deepen the breath , maybe you start to resist whatever pain is present a little bit less . What resistance can you let go of here ?

What thing can you drop that is making you suffer unnecessarily ? Can you set it to the side ?

Can you turn those units down as low as they can go , maybe to zero or however close you can get , and then bring it back to the breath , being with this pain , not shying away from it , not running away , not resisting , but sending it ease , kind of like hugging it here .

Take a long , slow inhale and a longer , slower exhale and pause Long , slow inhalation , longer , slower exhalation and pause Long , slow inhale , longer , slower exhale and pause Long , slow inhale , longer , slower exhale and pause . Continue to breathe in this way , continue to breathe in this way . Continue to breathe in this way .

Continue to breathe in this way and take a moment to scan your body , from your head to your toes right now , and just notice what's present and ask it what it needs . Does it need stillness , does it need movement , Does it need food , water , breath , and as you transition into what comes next .

I invite you to honor what your body is telling you it needs for at least a minute . Take a moment , bring your hands to your heart , thank yourself for having the courage to be with your pain , to release the resistance and to suffer less .

Let's take one more breath together , in through the nose and out through the mouth , and then you can slowly open your eyes . As you return to this space , I hope that you feel more nourished , I hope you feel like you're gonna suffer a little bit less , and I hope you feel able to tend to and be with the pain .

That's a part of life and that you know how to lessen the degree of it , how to calm the nervous system down , to release any unnecessary suffering .

There's a lot of pain present in the world today , and it's really tempting to resist it , to pretend it isn't there , to turn our eyes away from it , but we need to be with it To alleviate any amount of suffering that we can , because there's already far too much .

So , in addition to supporting this podcast , the Dream Team for the month of October has also supported two organizations that are supporting Relief in Gaza the UNRWA , the United Nations Relief Workers Agency , as well as the ICRC , the International Committee of the Red Cross , to provide aid wherever we can in the Middle East .

So thank you for taking care of yourself , for cultivating a community through this podcast and for taking care of the community and taking care of the world as a whole . So , all the members of the Dream Team , thank you so much for your support and for making this impact in the world .

Stay tuned for who we will support in November and I'm always open to suggestions for that . So feel free to message me on Instagram at HowTheWiseOneGrowse or at Holly'sazure , or leave it in the comments . So until the next time , I'm making it one breath at a time .