With mindfulness we purposefully observe our experience as it takes place, including any discomfort or pain that may be present. The mind naturally tends to see discomfort or pain as being a "thing," and to give it a degree of solidity, permanence, and coherence that it doesn't in fact have. In mindfulness we train ourselves to see the many different sensations that actually make it up. We may even gently make mental notes of the most prominent sensations that we notice. For example we may note the presence of "tingling," "pulsing," "throbbing," "heat," "cold," "aching," "tightness," etc. When we let go of the rather crude label "discomfort" or "pain" in this way and instead note what is actually present, we can find that each individual sensation is easier to bear.
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Mindfulness of Physical Discomfort [
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