Physical Pain and Meditation
If you are in pain, it might not be easy at first to relax your body completely. If this is the case, try to schedule your exercise to take place shortly after your usual pain medication begins to work. You must relax your body as much as possible in order to achieve a deep meditative state. You will notice that after three or four weeks of practice you will be able to relax and meditate despite some initial pain and with less medication. If you manage to go very deep and sustain an unbroken meditative state for at least half an hour, when you come out of it, you will experience a soothing pain-free after-effect that will linger for an hour or so. Eventually, when you become an experienced meditator, you will be able to enter a deep state almost instantaneously regardless of any pain. God is the best painkiller.
Dealing With Restlessness
Try to maintain deep relaxation throughout the entire exercise. Watch out for any signs of physical and mental restlessness. It may happen at the beginning of your practice. If it does, stop the exercise immediately and patiently deal with the intruders. Start the exercise over again. Put your emphasis on the breathing prayer.
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