How To Get Rid of The Pain Body

In The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle introduces the idea of the pain body, which he describes as a field of negative energy from our past. We often become obsessed with this pain, even though we are not aware of it. Fortunately, there is a very simple method for releasing the emotional pain-body and becoming present in the Now.

In this post, we’ll take a look at what the pain body is and how you can get rid of it using a simple but very powerful method.

I’ve also included an excellent pain body meditation to help you release this energy completely. If you follow the steps outlined in the meditation, it won’t be long before you find yourself more capable of living in the present moment, without suffering.

Let’s get started…

What Is The Pain Body? Meaning and Theory

The pain-body is a term Tolle uses to describe our state of internal suffering. As we move through our lives, we inevitably encounter circumstances that trigger negative emotions within us.

While we can release this negativity immediately, most of the time we do not. Over time, these small negative moments compound to form a field of negative energy that we carry with us throughout our lives.

Let’s look at an example:

Imagine you have a fight with your spouse about washing the dishes. On the surface, this could be a very minor issue and, were you to let the negativity pass through you, it could be over very quickly. More often than not, however, that small negative energy about cleaning up from dinner spirals into a much larger issue.

Maybe it triggers feelings about how one of you doesn’t contribute enough to the household and that the other always cleans. Maybe it begins to build a slight resentment about who does more work, or even spills over into latent feelings about other areas of your life: who earns more money, who does more with the kids, who is more supporting of the other. A simple disagreement over washing dishes has spiraled into a major divide your relationship.

For most people, this type of thinking happens over and over, across almost every area of our lives. When we cannot release negative energy freely, it builds up. Over time, this creates an immense barrier to releasing future negative energy on that subject, as it impacts our beliefs, our actions, and our entire lives.

Even worse: we are often completely unaware that we do this. In the moment of the argument (or other negative emotion) we begin to identify with the negativity. It may even consume our behavior entirely. We do not notice that this negativity is not apart from us; we do not see it as a field that simply passes through us, were we to allow it to pass.

Instead we grip onto it, identify with it, and allow it to create further negative energy within us. This turmoil stops us from living fully, and takes away our ability to be at peace with ourselves.

Fortunately, releasing this energy does not have to be difficult.

How To Dissolve The Emotional Pain Body

The key to getting rid of the pain body is to realize that it only holds power over you for as long as you continue to give it that power. The pain body wants to survive, and it’s tool for survival is to get you to identify with it.

When you no longer identify with it – that is: when you no longer become embroiled in the emotion and believe you are that emotion – the negative energy will dissolve quickly and effortlessly.

With practice, you can learn to step back from the pain body and see it for what it truly is: a distortion of your natural, peaceful energy. You can even learn how to let go of everything in a single breath, so that any time negativity arises, you are prepared to deal with it.

Releasing the pain body requires you to center fully in the Now-moment. When you are present in the Eternal Now, you cannot experience energy that has accumulated from the past. You are mindful only of the current moment, and you awareness steps back to a higher, more enlightened perspective.

One of the best ways to do this is through meditation, as meditation will allow you to refocus on your inner state of joy, and release any energy that does not serve you.

Eckhart Tolle Interview on Pain Body Relationships and How to Respond to Others

While mastering how to release your pain body on an individual level can be a challenge in and of itself, we also have to learn to become aware of expressions of the pain body in others.

When others suffer, when they are angry or frustrated, they often lash out in ways for which we cannot blame them. We can learn to deal with this by practicing loving kindness and compassion, and by becoming more aware of how the pain body works in relationships between people.

Listen to this interview with Eckhart Tolle to learn more.

Learn more about Eckhart’s teachings on his website.

Pain Body Meditation: Releasing Negative Energy

Practicing meditation consistently can go a long way towards helping you to get rid of the emotional pain body, and achieve a more centered state of balance and presence in the Now-moment.

Try this meditation for releasing negative energy as one tool for helping to dissolve your pain body.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJ9IXL4wY4

You might also like these other tools and techniques for releasing negative energy: