Experienced meditators observe pain continuously in one session. This beginner’s program asks questions to help you observe pain intermittently in one session. It separates the from the matrix within which it occurs and promotes tolerance. If one question doesn’t apply, focus on the background music until the next question. Listen straight through, then with pauses to answer, and then straight through again. "Observing Your Pain", along with with my other cognitive behavior therapy-informed mindfulness audio programs "Editing Your Pain" and "Pain Away Number 11", has a cumulative effect. When using the download, if the program is going too fast for you, pause it, answer the question, and then continue. Everyone is different. For me, it's fast. For others, it's slow.
Photo: Thanks to Pixabay at Pexels.

This 3-page brochure introduces you to mindfulness: what it is, how it is practiced, what research shows it does to the brain, and research into how it has been used to manage psychological and medical challenges. This is followed by a brief intro to guided meditations to help you bring more mindfulness into your life. Photo thanks to Shutter Stock.

This guided meditation teaches you how to sit, center, observe your breath, and settle into mindful awareness, handle intrusive thoughts, and cultivate presence. Then, it shows you how to install that presence into your daily life and re-experience it even when you're not meditating. Even experienced mindfulness practitioners can benefit from this audio-guided mindfulness meditation. You will be glad you did, and so will everyone around you.

Special notes: (1) This audio program has simple tones in the background to reduce interference from noise in your environment but not interfere with your breathing, which should be normal for you. (2) It is practiced in three sequences, so that you can finish at around 24:20, 32:15, or 40:10, depending on your time. The tones cut out for a second or two between the first and second sequence.
Photo thanks to Mart Production at Pexels

I am the Captain of My Ship: Gaining Perspective and Empowering Change. When you are hoping to bring more mindfulness into your life or you are facing life's challenges, you may repeat the following very empowering set of affirmations based in part on the de-identification exercise in The Act of Will by Roberto Assagioli. Synthesis Center Press, 2010. Repeat these affirmations in a relaxed and open meditative state. Repeat this meditation in its full form once or twice a day for a couple of months. I hope you find it a useful cognitive therapy resource and mindfulness activity.