How Can I Meditate (Or Do Anything Else) When I’m in Pain? | Sebene Selassie

Overview

This episode explores how to meditate and navigate life while experiencing physical or psychological pain. Sebene Selassie, a meditation teacher and cancer survivor, shares her personal journey with pain and offers practical insights on how mindfulness can transform our relationship with suffering.

Notable Quotes

- Pain is not mine alone. This suffering is so universal, it's so human. – Sebene Selassie, reflecting on the shared nature of pain.

- You're not the wave, you're the ocean. – DJ Kashmir, on finding perspective during moments of suffering.

- The simpler, often the better. – Sebene Selassie, on the power of simplicity in meditation practices.

🧘‍♀️ Navigating Pain Through Mindfulness

- Sebene Selassie discusses how her experiences with cancer and chronic pain reshaped her approach to meditation, emphasizing the importance of balancing mindfulness with self-compassion.

- She highlights the mental amplification of physical pain, where thoughts about pain can intensify the experience. Mindfulness helps to focus on the raw sensations—vibrations, tingling, or stabbing—rather than the stories we tell ourselves about the pain.

- Cultural and societal judgments around pain often add layers of suffering, such as equating wellness with worthiness. Sebene encourages dismantling these narratives.

🌊 The Universality of Suffering

- Pain is a shared human experience, and Sebene suggests reframing the question Why me? to Why not me? as a way to connect with the universality of suffering.

- DJ Kashmir shares a metaphor from Sister Dang Nghiem about being the ocean rather than the wave, which helped him contextualize his own struggles with anxiety.

🛠️ Practical Tools for Pain Management

- Sebene emphasizes the importance of tuning into the body to determine what it needs in the moment—whether it’s movement, medication, a bath, or meditation.

- She shares her personal strategies, such as meditating in a bath or using water as a soothing element for pain.

- For beginners, she recommends sticking to one meditation practice for a set period to build familiarity with their own patterns and responses.

🌀 The Complexity of Pain Perception

- Pain tolerance and perception vary widely among individuals, influenced by personal, cultural, and emotional factors.

- Sebene notes that physical and emotional pain are processed in the same part of the brain, underscoring the interconnectedness of our experiences of suffering.

- She warns against over-identifying with pain, whether as a badge of resilience or as a source of collapse, and advocates for a balanced, non-judgmental awareness.

🎨 Intuitive and Adaptive Practices

- For those with more meditation experience, Sebene suggests a playful, improvisational approach to practice, guided by the question, What does my body need right now?

- She advises dropping into stillness, listening to bodily sensations, and choosing practices that align with the current state of mind and body.

- DJ Kashmir shares a simple practice he found helpful: focusing on one inhale and exhale, then observing bodily sensations, as a way to build the muscle of self-awareness.