Its been an extremely busy week. Dealing with pain was one of the themes and so I’ll address that and leave the others for next week. Continue reading Healing Imagery
Category Archives: Health
Disengaging from Repetitive Thoughts, Especially About Comfort Food
This is a somewhat extended meditation technique that goes into a bit of detail about a method for training the mind to be able to disengage from repetitive or irritating thoughts. The particular focus in the meditation is to help disengage from thoughts about comfort food.
The technique is may not be helpful for dealing with thoughts about using drugs or alcohol. It will not be helpful for dealing with physical cravings. Those require different techniques. Continue reading Disengaging from Repetitive Thoughts, Especially About Comfort Food
Reducing Pain by Noticing Rapid Changes in Time
There are many ways of using meditation to deal with pain. Many of them involve some form of distraction, placing your attention elsewhere. However, often our attention can be stuck focusing on the pain. In that case it can help to go with that and use the fact that every sensory experience, even pain, will vary from moment to moment.
This meditation technique help you reduce the perception of pain by paying selective attention to rapid and subtle decreases in the level of pain. At first the reductions are small and short, but with practice they will become larger and longer. As we practice this we train our brain to become better at reducing pain.
Notes: Continue reading Reducing Pain by Noticing Rapid Changes in Time
Softening the Body for Relaxation and Comfort
We tend to hold our bodies more tense than we need to and releasing that excess tension can help us relax and feel more comfortable. It can also help relieve pain, especially musculoskeletal pain.
To use this technique think of something soft and imagine one part of the body taking on that quality of softness more and more with each exhalation. After a few breaths pause and note how your body feels. Then either repeat that with the same part of the body, or allow a different part of the body to come to mind and let that part get softer for a few breaths. Continue to do this with various parts of your body shifting from one to another in a somewhat playful manner.
Pulling Breath Downward to Reduce Headaches and Neck Pain
I made this track specifically for a couple of my patients who are struggling with neck pain and headaches, to remind them of what we did in the office.
It teaches a somewhat unusual technique for engaging the abdominal muscles while breathing so that the neck and shoulder muscles can relax. That often helps the head and neck feel more comfortable.
If you are not one of my patients you are welcome to listen, but please do not use it if it causes discomfort.
Disengaging from Repetitive Thoughts
This audio track is a guided meditation to help you disengage from repetitive thoughts, especially those about comfort food.
Centering Meditation – Warmth and Nurturing Presence
This audio track is a guided meditation to help you feel a sense of comfort and a sense of being with a nurturing presence.