The healing meditation

A healing meditation can help anyone who is in physical or emotional pain. Find out what it is and how to do it.

The healing meditation is a special meditation designed to help people who are struggling with some kind of pain, either emotional or physical—and who isn’t? It can bring inner peace, healing, and answers to your most troubling questions. Magic? Nope, just good old meditation. You should do it alone in a place where you feel safe and comfortable, maybe your bedroom. You should sit quietly and turn your attention to your breath. Take several conscious, deep breaths. Focus your attention on your breath going into and out of your body. Let your mind quiet down.

Reflect on something, such as an issue, a concern, a question, a feeling, or a pain or problem that you would like to bring healing  too. If you sit quietly, you can actually feel that concern manifest itself somewhere in your body. Get a sense of that concern-you might feel it in your head, chest, stomach, or elsewhere. Feel the energy in your body as you reflect on that concern. Feel a connection to your concern. Notice what that feeling for the concern feels like in your body. Now focus on that feeling, whether it is pain, sadness, fright, whatever. Recognize the feelings you have when you intentionally bring awareness to your concern. You may have these feelings in your heart, body, or mind. Notice how you feel in your mind, body and/ or heart when you recognize those feelings. Notice what you become aware of.

Acknowledge and accept whatever it is you are feeling as you are feeling it in your heart, mind, or body. This is a deeper level of recognition, one you may not have previously allowed yourself to get to. Directly affirm and validate what you are feeling. Say to yourself,” Yes, I feel sad (or hurt or angry or whatever it is that you feel.) Notice what it is like to acknowledge your feeling in body and mind. What do you become aware of when you acknowledge your feeling in your mind and body?

Give your feelings all the room they need. Let them get as big as they want. It might help to imagine your feelings as a balloon in a football stadium. Imagine the balloon getting as big as it can, with you standing right next to it, allowing it to happen. Notice how you feel when you allow your feelings all the room they need; you might feel anxious, overwhelmed, or even peaceful. The point is to just feel whatever it is you feel.

Open yourself to your feeling, to this huge balloon. Imagine opening your arms as wide as they go and embracing the balloon, accepting it for what it is. Now imagine that you and your feelings, your balloon are one. Imagine that you are both pliable and can merge together. You are your feelings and they are you. How do you feel about that? This opening to your feelings allows resources to come to you in the form of, perhaps, a small inner voice speaking to you about your original concern. You may get some insight into your problem, or some other kind of message.You may be resistant to this type of meditation, especially if you have never really meditated before. You may feel silly. That’s ok—your resistance is not a problem; it’s just another feeling. If you start feeling resistance, bring your mindfulness to that resistance. Simply acknowledge the resistance and move on to the next step. If you can do this meditation with an open mind and an open heart, you will find that you hold the answers to all of your problems. You can find the answers if you just look.