The Life-changing Meditation for Pain that I recommend
This meditation I especially recommend to people who struggle with negative emotions that just can't seem to go away. This is the meditation I do every day and it has truly been life-changing. I once probably had depression, probably had anxiety, definitely had Narcissicm. And now, anyone who's talked to me in person won't ever think I have severe mental issues (until they hear my views on pedophilia of course).
But even more importantly, meditation helped me so that no matter how things get: whether I lost a loved one in my life, or thousands of people are sending me hate mail, or being sent to Prison a million times, I will remain emotionally stable. Or at least, if an overwhelming emotion comes, I'm confident that I can overcome it, and I do.
Meditation is one of, if not the most important skill you can ever learn. Saying you can be mentally healthy without meditation is like saying you can be physically healthy without exercise, very unlikely. Research on the most successful people in the world (top athletes, entrepreneurs, artists, writers etc) shows that 80% of them have a consistent meditation routine. And I'm guessing the other 20% who say they don't meditate probably do something that is meditation, they just don't know that it is (like hearing the same song over and over again, or lying down in nature).
The meditation I'm about to recommend is basically 2 of the meditations I selected from Tara Brach's excellent book "True Refuge" (which if you want more detail on meditation, read the book). This meditation targets pain you've experienced in the past that might still be affecting your thoughts and actions in the present. It seeks to reduce the pain not by resisting, but accepting it (read this post for more details on that concept).
There are thousands of different meditations, some meditations work better for different types of people. If this meditation I recommend doesn't work for you, find one that does. One type of meditation may not work for everyone, but there's one meditation meant for everyone.
So let's begin!
You can do the meditation in any position: sitting, standing, lying down, it doesn't matter. Eyes closed or open, it doesn't matter (I usually do it lying down, eyes closed). First, recall any negative event, thought or experience you had (maybe someone said something that upset you, you're stressed out about work or a family member, you're addictively craving something, you're overthinking problems constantly). Don't go into problem solving mode trying to think through or fix the issue, just recall the event enough to trigger the strong emotions associated with it.
After the emotion is brought up, you notice that every emotion leads to a sensation in your body, whether that be tightness in your chest, headaches, blocked nose, ichiness... Note that sensation in your body, and this is most important: treat that sensation with full acceptance, without any resistance. Open yourself fully to those feelings in your body. If those feelings are overwhelming, you can take a break or recall a different event that's less emotionally triggering. But if you can handle them, open yourself to those feelings as long as you want, or until the feelings subside. Then you can either stop meditating, or recall another negative event and repeat the process. Basically, the more pain you open yourself up to, the faster you recover.
The steps mentioned work for about 80% of any pain you've experienced. The other 20% are more deep-rooted mental issues like depression, anxiety, bipolar, caused from traumatic experiences like constant verbal or physical abuse, being in war or being raped. You will know if that mental issue is very deep if you do the above mentioned steps but it doesn't seem like the pain is going away. In that case, you need to use the power of love.
To do so, first you need to think of someone that to you most represents love. It can be a parent, a partner, a friend, or it can be a traditional religious figure like Jesus or Buddha. After you selected someone, just repeat the previously mentioned steps of noting the painful sensations in your body. And whenever the deeper emotions come, bring the figure of love to mind as you experience your pain. You can visualise that person in any position (gently smiling, in a prayer pose etc), and imagine rays of love coming out from your figure of love into that pain.
After each meditation session, the intensity of your pain would have lessened. And after a few months of meditation, mental issues that you have been struggling with all your life might be gone completely. It's truly a miraculous experience.
Meditation is life-changing. Now no matter how bad life gets, there will always be peace within you. You will treat yourself better, you will treat other people better. Your relationships will improve. Any big life decision you were afraid to take, you now will. You will not let your past traumas, your ego, what people think of you, your fear of failure or your fear of not being good enough ever affect you, you will do whatever it takes to reach your fullest potential, fulfill your destiny, and achieve your dreams.