Meditation for Chronic Pain- Somatic Tracking Exercise to Replace Fear with Curiosity

Why It Matters

By training the brain to view pain signals as safe, this technique empowers patients to self‑manage chronic pain, potentially reducing medication dependence and healthcare costs.

Key Takeaways

• Rewire chronic pain by replacing fear with mindful curiosity
• Focus on a single sensation, breathe, and observe without judgment
• Identify qualities—tightness, tingling, warmth—to signal safety to brain
• Outcome‑independent practice strengthens neural pathways that dampen pain signals
• Regular somatic tracking can reduce neuroplastic pain amplification over time

Summary

The video presents a guided meditation designed to rewire chronic pain by teaching the brain to differentiate fear from physical sensation. Developed by Alan Gordon, creator of Pain Reprocessing Therapy, the exercise uses somatic tracking to replace threat‑based responses with curiosity.

The narrator explains that neuroplastic pain arises when the brain amplifies signals it mistakenly labels as dangerous. By slowing the breath, selecting one dominant sensation, and observing its qualities—tightness, warmth, tingling—without trying to change it, practitioners send a “safe” message to the nervous system. The practice is explicitly outcome‑independent; any change in intensity is accepted.

Throughout the session the guide repeats phrases such as “watch it and notice it” and “enjoy the show,” encouraging listeners to treat sensations like clouds passing in a field. This metaphor reinforces detachment and reinforces new neural pathways that down‑regulate pain signaling.

Regular use of this curiosity‑based meditation can diminish the brain’s fear‑pain loop, offering a low‑cost, self‑administered tool for chronic‑pain sufferers and a complementary approach for clinicians seeking non‑pharmacologic interventions.

Original Description

If you have chronic pain including back pain you can benefit from this somatic tracking exercise from Alan Gordon’s Pain Reprocessing Therapy

Pain Psychology Center: https://painpsychologycenter.com/

The Way Out of Chronic Pain, by Alan Gordon: https://a.co/d/6suF8CC

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⚠️ Important note: This exercise is intended for people whose pain has been medically evaluated and is not caused by active injury, infection, fracture, or disease. Pain Reprocessing Therapy does not replace medical care.

Chronic pain and back pain aren’t just problems of the body — they’re problems of a nervous system stuck in protection mode.

In this video, I’ll guide you through a somatic tracking exercise, a core skill from Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), designed to help calm neuroplastic pain by teaching your brain that your body is safe.

Somatic tracking is not about ignoring pain, pushing through it, or forcing relaxation. Instead, you’ll practice noticing pain with curiosity, neutrality, and safety, which helps interrupt the fear–pain cycle that keeps chronic pain going.

This approach is especially helpful if:

You have chronic back pain or pain that lingers after healing

Imaging (like MRIs or X-rays) doesn’t fully explain your pain

Your pain changes with stress, emotions, or attention

You’ve been told “nothing is wrong,” but the pain is still very real

Research shows that when pain is driven by learned neural pathways (also called neuroplastic pain), retraining the brain’s response can significantly reduce pain — sometimes dramatically.

In this guided exercise, you’ll learn how to:

Observe pain without reinforcing fear

Separate pain sensations from danger signals

Reduce threat responses in the nervous system

Support your brain in relearning safety

Your pain is real. And for many people, it’s also changeable.

00:00 Guided Meditation for Chronic Pain: Somatic Tracking with Alan Gordon

01:20 Settling into Somatic Tracking with Alan Gordon

02:34 Practicing Somatic Tracking with Detached Curiosity

05:04 Mastering Outcome Independence for Chronic Pain Relief

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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.

In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.

And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe

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