Episode # 26- Somatic Tracking, a Meditation for Self Healing

This is a special episode where I take you through a 15 minute somatic tracking/meditation exercise.  

 

Chronic Pain is mainly neuroplastic pain (pain created by the brain and felt in the body).

It is usually interpreted with certain thoughts or emotions

-fear, frustration, uncertainty, despair, sadness, 

There are thoughts like what did I do? How long will this last? How can I get rid of the pain? How can I avoid it?

We may think there are certain positions that are safe and some that are dangerous.

 

These thought and feelings reinforce to the brain that there is something to be scared of, which strengthens the neural pathways that produce more pain

 

Somatic tracking is a way to reframe the sensations in your body from a lens of neutrality or safety.  It helps you change understanding of what the actual sensation is.  In chronic pain the brain is over reacting to perfectly neutral totally safe sensations.  When pain is no longer dangerous, the brain stops making more pain.

 

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Transcript- Automatically generated:

This is Betsy Jensen, and you are listening to Unstoppable Body and Mind, Episode 26, Somatic Tracking, A Meditation for Pain. In this podcast, we learned to upgrade our brain and understand the power of our thoughts, to heal and to create the results we want in our life. Become the person in control of your healing and make peace with your life.
Become Unstoppable Body and Mind.
Hello, my friends. We have kind of a special podcast episode today because I'm gonna take you through a meditation for pain. Hopefully, that didn't deter anyone.
We're not going to try to increase our pain. It's a meditation for when you feel pain. It's also called Somatic Tracking by Cureable.
That's where I learned of that term. And basically, we'll be addressing the neuroplastic pain or the pain that the brain produces that's felt in your body. This can happen especially with chronic pain.
Most of the pain that people feel is coming from the brain where it is interpreting safe signals of the body as if the signals were dangerous. Pain is a danger signal. So if you have your hand on a hot stove, you're gonna feel that pain so that you remove your hand and don't cause more damage.
But with chronic pain, the brain begins to interpret these danger signals where there is none. Especially over the last five to 10 years in neuroscience, they've found that the majority of chronic pain is not caused by structural problems in the body, but by neural pathways in the brain. So many MRI studies have been done that they have taken healthy people, that when they do MRIs in certain areas of their body, do see that they may have arthritis, even bulging discs or a torn rotator cuff or meniscus, and have no sensation of pain.
So there's no evidence that there is cause and effect relationship between a structural abnormality in your body and the feeling of pain. Chronic pain is basically a false alarm. When pain becomes chronic, the brain becomes even more hypersensitive to pain.
Like it's always on the lookout for anything that might be dangerous or trigger it. There was a study where they played an annoying sound for people like nails on a chalkboard, and the people who had chronic pain, their brains reacted 25% more to that sound. So people who have chronic pain signals have a hypersensitized brain for any kind of danger.
Usually people who have chronic pain have certain thoughts or emotion patterns. Fear is one of the biggest ones. There could also be frustration or uncertainty or even despair or sadness.
There could be thoughts like, oh, what did I do? How did I hurt it? How long will this last?
How can I get rid of the pain? How can I avoid it? How come it's not getting better?
Is it always going to be like this? There may be thoughts about what certain positions are safe and which ones might be dangerous. And all of these thoughts and feelings reinforce to the brain that there's something to be scared of, which strengthens the neural pathway that produces more pain.
It's like the brain is always on the lookout for anything that could be dangerous and turns up the volume signal for any of those things that could cause you damage in order to keep you safe. So what we're going to do here is pay attention to the sensation you're feeling in your body while you're in either a curious or a positive emotional state. So looking at it through a lens of safety and not coming from fight or flight will allow your brain to rewire how it perceives the pain.
Our goal is to change the understanding of what that sensation actually is. Your brain is overreacting to a totally safe sensation that's perfectly neutral. The more you can practice feeling the sensation with a neutral or curious emotion, you can rewire your brain to make less pain.
Your brain realizes the sensation is no longer dangerous. It's totally safe. And so the brain stops making more pain.
So find a comfortable spot. You could be laying, sitting. You could have your legs up on a wall as you lay on the floor.
You could be in a recliner or laying on your side or even standing if that's most comfortable to you. But get comfortable, and we'll start.
I want you to start by noticing your breathing. Start trying to take deeper breaths if this feels comfortable to you. And pay attention to how easy it is for you to breathe deeper and deeper.
Deeper and deeper.
Where do you notice your breath most? In your nose, in your throat, in your chest, in your stomach?
Allow yourself to breathe a little deeper and a little slower.
And just notice how breathing is safe.
Breathing more deeply and slowly can help relax your brain and your nervous system and your body. Unstoppable Body.
Now, notice any sensations in your body. Do a body scan. Where do you feel any sensation?
And what do you feel there?
If you have sensations in multiple areas of your body, then pick one to focus on.
Describe that area.
Is it on the right side or the left side? Is it in the middle? Is it widespread or is it localized?
Is it deep or is it where you could touch it on the surface?
Remember, your brain has been interpreting this sensation as dangerous, but it's just a sensation in your body. Maybe it's not dangerous.
Imagine if you could describe this sensation to someone else, maybe an alien that's never experienced what it feels like. How could you describe it? What is it?
Is it sharp or dull? Is it tight, aching, burning, tingling? Does it feel like pressure?
Does it stay in one place or does it move?
Is it constant or does it come and go?
Keep paying attention to the sensation and watch it. You don't need to get rid of it or run away from it. You don't need to be scared of it.
Think of a feeling of pressure. You might get a massage and feel pressure that does feel good. It's not dangerous.
What if the feeling is burning? Have you ever had a burning that feels good like in a hot tub?
So it's not the sensation that's negative or disruptive. It's our brain's interpretation of the sensation as being dangerous. That's what makes it uncomfortable.
If you've had pain in this area for years or decades, then there is neurogenic pain, pain produced by your brain because it does not feel safe.
So imagine that part of your body that has sensation. Imagine that part is not in danger. It's your brain overreacting to the sensation.
You feel some sensory input. You can feel it right now. But your body itself is safe.
Imagine watching the sensation like you would if you were a passenger on a train. You're just watching what's going on and not reacting to it. It's effortless.
Explore it with interest and curiosity.
Think to yourself, even though I am feeling this uncomfortable sensation, I accept myself and honor how I feel.
I am safe.
If the pain moves around, follow it, like that passenger on a train that is along for the ride.
Give yourself permission to feel the sensation wherever it goes or whatever it feels like.
Give yourself permission to relax and notice.
Think of it like a firework show. You can watch it and be intrigued and curious.
But your brain is like a dog that reacts to fireworks with fear, thinking the world might be ending. This is how your brain is used to thinking of pain.
But you can imagine you are a human that knows that you can watch these fireworks from a safe place and they cannot hurt you. And you can observe calmly what is happening in your body.
Think to yourself, even though I have been so frustrated or scared by this pain, I accept that there is sensation right now and honor how I feel. I can feel curious about this pain.
If my brain wanders, I can let it wander. I can just follow it and see where it goes, just like the pain in my body may be moving or changing or lessening. I can open up to it and continue to breathe calmly as I notice the feelings.
Breathe in lightness and energy.
Exhale anything toxic, anything dark or anything not serving you.
As you breathe in, let the breath go to the area that you have sensation. Imagine it like a flashlight illuminating the area, so you can see what's in there.
Keep breathing air into the area and let it flow inside your body. Release any negativity when you exhale. Maybe you can listen to your body.
It's safe to listen to this pain, to address how you're feeling, and let it go.
Maybe focus on the breathing and add some movement to your body. Stretch your arms up or straighten your legs. Feel the muscles in the joints, stretch and relax.
If there's a way your body wants to move, to stretch and to feel good, experience the positive sensations of movement.
Think to yourself, what is it about my pain that stresses me out the most?
If there was an emotion in this part of my body, what would it be?
Would you feel anger, anxiety, stress, disappointment, frustration, sadness, grief, overwhelm?
Do you remember when you first started experiencing this pain? What was going on in your life at that time?
Think back, like you're watching a movie of what was going on in your life when you developed this pain. If it was an accident, replay that accident in your head.
Try and feel if there was something else going on in your life at that time that might have been causing tension or stress.
As you replay the movie, think of what was going on.
Notice how you can release some of the tension and stress at this time. As you acknowledge these emotions, you begin to let them go.
Keep breathing and relaxing as you replay this movie and think of that time in your life.
Can you acknowledge any negative emotions you had at the time?
Begin to let them go.
Notice that when you play this movie, you may feel some sensation.
When you acknowledge the pain behind the pain, it begins to lessen. Your body begins to relax.
Think to yourself, this is how I felt. This is what I've been holding on to. This is what I'm letting go.
Your body begins to relax more and more step by step as you let go.
Check in with your body now, and notice if the sensation has changed.
Enjoy the movement of the breath. Know that right now, you are safe.
Even if the pain is still there, you can focus on your breathing and feeling safe. This is literally healing your brain, rewiring the signal to be less responsive and to create less pain.
Feel whatever sensation, if there still is some, from this calm state.
The pain may subside or it may come back at times, but that's okay. The goal is not to prevent the pain from ever coming back. The goal is to change the way you respond when it does.
Reacting with fear or panic reinforces to the brain that there's something wrong and keeps the pain cycle going.
But no, it's not dangerous. It's just a misinterpretation by the brain. You can still breathe and feel safe.
Choose to breathe and relax.
We will end with some positive affirmations. You can either repeat them in your mind or out loud after me. When you say these words, bring them to life.
Bring the meaning of these words into every cell of your body.
All right, you guys, great job today. Think of how you felt before you began this and how your body is feeling now. And remember, this meditation is only 15 minutes.
So in your 24-hour day, this will only take you a short amount of time. And the more times you are focusing on this and doing this work, it will rewire your brain faster. And if you want one-on-one coaching with me to figure these things out a little deeper for yourself, then head over to my website, bodyandmindlifecoach.com, or email me at info at bodyandmindlifecoach.com.
Thank you so much for listening. I hope you learned a little bit about your brain today that helps you in your life like it helped me. Please be sure and subscribe and leave a review.
And of course, be sure and share this podcast with someone you know that wants an Unstoppable Body and Mind.