Cambridge Insight Meditation Center

6/30 – 8/4 Bringing Mindfulness and Care to Physical Pain

Week 1

Bringing Mindfulness and Care to Physical Pain – Week 1 (6/30/25)

  1. In formal meditation: Practice softening this week. I suggest doing it at least 3 times but find what’s right for you. If you have a daily practice, you can do it then. It can be the main focus of your practice or you can take some time for it at the beginning or end of your usual practice. If you don’t have a daily practice or if you prefer, you can devote 10-15 minutes (or as much as you want) at any point during the day to practicing softening.
  1. In daily life: Notice times when you find yourself lost in resistance, aversion, or other reactivity to pain. This could include a sense of struggling with it or of trying to push it aside—perhaps convincing yourself that it is not a problem even as your stress level climbs. It could also include reactive thoughts and emotions about your pain (and/or health/life situation related to pain). Resistance, aversion, and reactivity also include self-judgments, blame, worry, anger, stories or narratives about the situation, and the like.

Remember, it’s understandable that these difficult mind-states arise—there’s no need to condemn them.  The suffering—i.e., the “second arrow”—occurs when we get caught inthem. For this reason, when you become aware of being caught or lost in a difficult mind-state, simply recognize that a reactive thought or emotion is happening. If you find it helpful, you can make a quiet, mental note like, “2nd arrow,” “that’s just a thought,” “worry is happening,” or simply, “thinking” or “worry.” Or make up your own note. It’s about increasing your awareness of reactivity, not judging or eliminating it.

  1. Buddies: Together, you will explore the investigative question, “What’s not wrong?” as offered by Thich Nhat Hanh. For this week, look for things in your day, or in just this moment, that are not going wrong—or perhaps are even going well. Try noticing things we usually take for granted until they break down or fall away. For example, not having a tooth ache; having running water; having a computer and internet access; favorable weather, etc. Each day (taking 1-2 days off is fine), focus on 3 of these things and see if you can take in the blessing of what’s not wrong. Then, text your buddy a list of your 3 things.