(Long Music) Relaxing body part Let me bore your pain away #34 Jason Newland 8th May 2025

Hello and welcome to jasonnewland.com. That's my website. My name's Jason Newland. That's my name.

Sorry, I'm being silly. So, please only listen when you can safely close your eyes. This is Let Me Bore Your Pain Away.

And only listen to this when, first of all, you know the cause of your chronic pain. Secondly, you have permission from your doctor to listen to this. Okay, this is not a replacement for medical attention, for medicine, for... And also, it's not any type of medical advice.

Because I'm not a doctor. It sounds like I had something else to say then, didn't I? I'm not a doctor, but... but no, nothing, no but. I'm not a doctor.

And, you know, that's it really. Oh, I've got an itchy knee. My left knee's itchy.

I don't know why. So, on my website, there is all my recordings. Thousands of different recordings.

Also, you can stream, you can download. They're all broken up into different categories and different podcasts. And you've got, yeah, playlists and all kinds of stuff.

There's also, let you know, the SoundCloud account is back. So SoundCloud podcast is back online. What else? I do have a YouTube channel at Jason Newland, which is also my podcast.

It's another podcast. All my latest recordings are on there. And I have a Facebook group called Jason Newland's Boring Group.

So if you'd like to join, there's a link on my website to there as well. I actually had a topic I was going to discuss today. Had it all in my mind.

Had it kind of planned out, been thinking about it since this morning. Well, since yesterday, actually. But now I've decided to do something different.

I guess it's kind of a, you could call it technique. It's not really, I suppose it is kind of, it's something I've done before. But in this way, it's, you know, it's not hypnosis.

It's just a little bit of focusing. That's all. So I'm going to ask you to focus on two parts of your body.

Now the first part of your body would be a part of your body where there's chronic pain. Okay. That's the first part I'm going to ask you to keep coming back and focusing on.

The other part of your body I'm going to ask you to focus on is any part of your body that feels absolutely fine. Might even feel good. Might feel comfortable and relaxed.

May even be pleasure. I don't know. Depends where you focus on.

I mean, if I was to focus on my biceps, it feels quite nice because I've just been working out. So I've got a slight little bulge there. Tiny little, it's like a little pea.

But to me, that's a big bicep. So it feels quite nice right now. So you can, you know, you can choose on a part of your body that either feels just completely fine, maybe almost neutral in a sense, but it's just nothing going on there.

You know, it's just, just how it feels. It's your choice. You've got your whole body to choose from.

So you got that part which has, it was painful. And before you started listening to this, that's kind of the reason why you're listening to this maybe. And then you've got the other part, the comfortable part.

So what I'm going to focus, I'm going to call them, that the, I don't know, should we call one part becoming relaxed and the other part already relaxed? Should we do that? Because I don't like, now focus on the part that's really painful. And that doesn't seem like very good wording. So if you focus, you call, we'll call that part the starting to relax or becoming relaxed, because that's kind of what's going to be happening.

And then you got the other part, which is the, even more relaxed, which is the part that's already relaxed. Okay. So I don't want to keep saying the word P-A-I-N throughout the recording, because we're not focusing on that, we're focused on the opposite to that.

We're focusing on comfort, relaxation, looseness, peacefulness, letting go, you know. However, that can be the expectation. But all we're going to do in this recording, just focus on the different parts of your body.

That's it. That's all we're going to do. I'm not going to tell you to relax either of those parts of your body.

All I'm going to ask you to do is focus on each part and notice how they feel. Now, because I can't know what parts of your body you're talking about, that's why I'll say just focus on relaxing compared to really relaxed. So there's relaxing and really relaxed.

So the relaxing part is the one that you'd like to relax more. And the other part is already relaxed. Relaxing and really relaxed.

Okay. So, and I'll talk throughout this as well, just chatting about stuff. You know, it's not like some serious, super duper focusing attention, blah, blah, blah.

It's just a gentle chat. And I'll keep coming back to the different parts of your body throughout. And Vinnie will occasionally flap his ears.

Because that's what he likes to do. Well, he hasn't had his dinner yet. He had a bad tummy yesterday, but he seems to have, yeah, seems to have recovered, which is good.

So just want to get in touch with, notice how the part that feels that's already relaxed, the really relaxed part, notice how that part of your body feels. And if you're going to give that a, I don't know, a gauge between zero and 10, 10 being completely relaxed, zero being completely relaxed and 10 being like unpleasant, what would you give that now? Hopefully it's a zero because that's the part that we need to be a zero at the moment. Maybe it's a one, maybe it's got improvement, it can be improved.

And now focus on the part of your body that is relaxing, that we're looking to relax. As you focus on that part of your body, as you're focusing on that part of your body, notice what you would give it between zero and 10. Maybe it'd be higher than 10 on that scale of discomfort, or you could call it the scale of comfort, zero being completely comfortable, 10 being the complete opposite.

Just notice what you would give it now. And maybe also notice how it's changed since before you press the play button on this recording. Maybe surprisingly, not surprisingly that you press the button, the play button, but perhaps you're a little bit surprised that you feel, you're feeling different, but maybe unsure why.

But then it doesn't have to really make sense, not really. It's really for me, it's a case of does it help? It's as simple as that. And how much does it help you to feel more comfortable? Even though really, we're not doing much, just moving your focus from relaxing to really relaxed, and then back to relaxing and really relaxed.

So we'll go back to the feeling of really relaxed. Notice how that feels in that part of your body. Maybe noticing, even though you're not actually trying to relax that part of your body, you're not actually actively doing anything, but just focusing on it.

Noticing the physical sensations, as well as the sounds of Vinny in the background, clicking away as he chomps on his jaw bone thing, whatever it is. So, keeping relaxed and keeping focused on that, relaxing more part of your body. And just noticing maybe there's different parts of that body, part that feel different.

For example, if it was your leg, maybe it's your thigh, you might feel more relaxed at the top of your thigh than you do at the bottom of your thigh. You might feel more relaxed in the side rather than the bottom or maybe the middle part is the most relaxed. If you're focusing on your hand, maybe you notice that your thumb is the most relaxed part, or the palm of your hand is the most relaxed part.

It's strange, you know, because when I mentioned these parts of my body, they really relax. I don't know if you have the same feeling. When I mentioned my thumb, both my thumbs relaxed.

And when I mentioned the palms of my hands, both my hands are still relaxed. Maybe you're focusing on your eyes. Wow, it's just focusing on my eyes, causes your eyes to relax.

I can almost feel the tension leave in my eyes, starting to shrink and dissolve. Dissolve. It's quite nice.

So now think as you focus on the relaxing part of your body. Just notice how it feels. Again, you're not trying to get that part of your body to let go completely.

You're just focusing on it. You're just noticing how it feels in this moment. Maybe moving around that body part, or focusing on different parts.

Perhaps different areas of the skin feel slightly changed. As if the feelings are, they're not static, they're actually moving. The physical sensations are moving around like liquid.

Not static, not set, but fluid and changeable. As we move back to that focus of the other part of your body, the part that's relaxing even more deeper. On its own, we're not trying to cause it to relax.

It's just relaxing. Just continues to relax in its own way, in its own time. Notice how that feels.

Maybe you notice that actually, that sense of relaxation is way more powerful than the other part of your body. The feeling of comfort is way stronger, way stronger. Noticing how nice it feels to just be aware of the comfort that's naturally in that part of your body.

That's relaxing even deeper. You may notice that that feeling of comfort is automatically starting to spread through your body. But even though we're not focusing on that, and even though you've not requested that to happen, it may just naturally occur on its own.

As you move back to that part of your body that is relaxing. We've been chasing a fly in the background. Every time things get a little bit quiet, Vini has to point out that this is my recording, Daddy.

I'm in charge and I'm letting everyone know that I'm still here. Who would have thought that a fly would give him so much pleasure? Honestly, nothing else gets him as excited as a fly. All them toys I bought him, all he really wanted was a fly.

Horrible thing flying around because he can't catch it. Well, not yet. Maybe he will do one day.

You never know. Sorry, I didn't mean to distract you. So let's focus back on the relaxing part.

And just notice how it feels. Again, we're not really trying, we've called it relaxing in the other part, relaxing even more, or even more relaxed, whatever you want to call it. But even though we're calling this part relaxing, it's just so that you can differentiate between the two different parts.

Because as you start to focus on them, they may also almost seem like they're kind of melting together. So I'm trying to differentiate between them so that you can focus on the relaxing part. And give yourself the opportunity to really just focus and notice how that part of your body feels in this moment.

And I guess it's also an opportunity to compare and maybe even to challenge the feelings, or to question the feelings, the physical sensations. I mean, one question would be, why is one part feeling that way, and another part feels this way? But then another question might also be, how come this part that was feeling a different way before, now is starting to feel more like the other part, feeling that way? So you can get a little bit confusing, a little bit up in the air. You know, it's a bit like, you know, when you're counting something, you're counting whether it's, you're working something out on a calculator even, you know, it's lots of different things.

And maybe you're working out the prices of all the groceries you bought, and you're working it out, adding it all up. And then someone just, the window cleaner pops up and starts cleaning the window from outside. And he's like, but I live 16 floors up, where did you come from? How did you get such a long ladder? It could be a distraction.

Or it could be just something simple, you're having a picnic on the park, and someone in a parachute drops down and lands on you, and squashes your cake, because you might have had like a fairy cake that you had, you've been looking forward to eating for hours. But because you're with another human, you feel I better eat the sandwiches first. Even though if there was no one else around, you'd just be eating the cream cake, because they are so yummy.

So you've been waiting to eat it, you've had the sandwiches, you didn't mind the sandwiches. But it wasn't really your first choice, you really would have just gone with a cake. And, and the fact that you've got a KitKat, as well, that's probably you the fairy cake, then a sandwich, then a KitKat to reward you for eating the sandwiches.

Because that's what dessert is really, isn't it? It's just a reward for eating the real food. That's what I used to think it was when I was a kid. Eat all your dinner up, otherwise you won't get any dessert.

You won't get any ice cream, if you don't eat all your dinner. Cabbage, or whatever it was. Cabbage soup.

Cabbage. I don't mind cabbage. Well, I don't like cabbage.

I don't. I have had cabbage that was nice. Cabbage can be really cooked nicely, and presented nicely and taste nice.

I just never managed to do it myself. When I cook cabbage, it tastes like cabbage. I mean, you could argue, or would you expect it to taste like candy floss? Now, that'd be nice, wouldn't it? I can't remember the last time I had candy floss.

But I still know what it tastes like, and I still remember how sticky it is on my face. Yeah, I'm not sure if they've even had candy floss as an adult. Genuinely, I'm not sure.

Love candy floss. Wow, I need to get some candy floss. Not now, but where do they sell candy floss? At a fair.

I need to go to a fair. Some fair or fete or something like that, where they sell candy flosses. Oh, it feels so nice.

I'm just imagining eating a candy floss. And that whole melting in your mouth. And also, when you're a kid, there's something nice about making a mess.

You know, having your whole face covered in candy floss, you know, making yourself a little beard and moustache and stuff. It's just the big pink beard. Brilliant.

So much fun. I'm not sure if I'd do that now. I had a friend years ago.

I'll tell you about this in a second. So now go back to the part that's relaxing even deeper. Just focus on that part again.

Sometimes it can get hard to even get hold of any feelings. It's almost not that it's numb, but it's, it can feel like it's kind of just, I don't know, like it's just, it's there. Feels relaxed.

And, you know, when I just said the word relax just then, my forehead and my scalp just felt nice. I'm going to say it again, see if it works again. Relaxed.

It did, it worked again. Relaxed. Wow.

That's nice. It's like it's trickling down to my eyes, almost that feeling. But then I'm noticing, so I'm moving my arms around a little bit.

I'm a bit, I do like to wave my hands around when I talk sometimes. And I've noticed that my shoulders are very loose. My arms are very light.

Apart from all the muscles that make them incredibly heavy. No, but they're light. I feel very, quite fluffy.

Is that a word? Fluffy. Is that a good expression of feeling? And my lower back where the arthritis is, it feels the same as any other part of my body, which it's strange because I've not even been focusing on it. It's just naturally gone that way, followed the rest of the body.

So focus on that part again, the part that's relaxing even more, relaxing even more deeply. Just notice it may be harder to even get in touch with much of a feeling outside of just comfort. And then go back and focus on the relaxing part, the relaxing part.

And again, you're not trying to change anything. You're just observing it really. Just observing it and noticing how it feels.

Maybe you may even be surprised at how it feels. But I know what you really want to hear about is a story about the ice cream. So I was probably about 14.

And me and my friend Dean, we went down to the seafront. And I don't think it was, it was in the summer, but it wasn't busy. So probably kind of maybe spring time.

But it was during the week. So it's probably about Monday evening or something. So there wasn't a lot going on.

We went to the arcade and I saw someone working in the ice cream parlor in the arcade. Right, so I see the ice cream vendor. And there's a bloke behind the counter and like, I know him.

And it was Danny. I suppose I should tell you more, shouldn't I? Because you probably don't know who Danny is. Danny was, I reckon, probably about 19.

Maybe 20. But it was still he was older than me, but a bit, you know, a few years older. But he was going to karate, where I used to go.

And he'd been going for a few weeks. So I kind of knew him from there. So I'm like, hey, Danny, because I wanted to pretend to my friend Dean that I knew other people.

And I said, Hey, Danny. And he said, that's not my name. And who are you? And I said, it's Jason, JJ from karate.

He said, No, I don't know who you are. Why are you calling me Danny? I said, it is. It's you.

It's Danny. Danny from karate. And no, that didn't happen.

He said, I said, you're right. He said, Yeah, you? He said, Yeah. I said, are you busy? He said, well, you can see I'm not busy.

There's no one here, is there? That did actually happen. And I said, Okay, how come it's so quiet? He said, because no one here. I know that bit.

Like, but why is it so quiet? He said, What am I supposed to know? I'm here. I can't. I don't know all the world events are going on outside this building that would cause it to be quiet.

I don't know. We don't have the internet yet. I said, that's true.

He said, are you still doing your podcast? I said, No, I haven't started yet. He said, when are you going to start it? I said, probably 2006. He said, that's like 20 years.

20 years from now. Isn't what 1984 now? 1990s. That's like 20 years over 20 years.

I said, I know. I know. When are you going to talk about me and the ice cream? And Dean? I said, Well, that's probably going to be around 40 years from now.

Possibly 41 years. Why are you waiting so long? Why don't you do it? You know, when you start doing the podcast? Why don't you do in 20 years? Why are you going to wait for 21 years? Why are you waiting for 40 years? I said, I don't know. I might not get around to it.

He said, Okay. He said, Anyway, what do you want? I said, Well, nothing. Just want to come and say hello.

He said, Are you just pretending you've got a friend so you can show that, that he's not your only friend? Have you been arguing about that? Have you been arguing sort of, he's saying you've got no other friends? And you said, Yes, I have. And he said, Oh, where are they then? How come I never see them? We've been friends for 10 years. I've never seen any other friends.

And I said, Well, I haven't known him for 10 years. Have I? I've known you since I was nine. So it's only five years at this point.

But then he did make a valid, valid kind of statement. Five years is a long time to a 14 year old, isn't it? I said, Fair enough. Fair enough.

I said, Well, no, I'm not pretending you're my friend, because you are my friend. He said, Well, friend is a strong, strong word, isn't it? I said, What do you mean? He said, Oh, there's a bit of an age difference between us. Yeah, we, we attend the same karate club, but you're 13 years old, 14 years old, and I'm an adult.

I said, Yeah, he's still a teenager. He's still only 19. He's still pretty much just still a kid, really.

You're a teenager. He said, True. He said, Anyway, what do you want? I said, Nothing.

And I said, Oh, sorry, am I in the way of all the customers? Oh, I'm sorry about that. Let me turn around and apologise to them all. Oh, wait a minute.

There are there are no customers. So I'm not in the way. We laughed.

And he said, Do you want to join an ice cream? I said, Yeah, of course. So he goes, he starts to get like a cone. I said, I have two, please start to get a cone.

And I said, No, no, no, I got no money. You know, because I thought, Oh, God, better not because we didn't have any money. That's why we're in the arcade to start with, to actually go through all the machines to see if anyone had dropped money, like left them in the little, what do you call it, the little slot at the bottom where the money comes out when you win stuff.

Sometimes you'd find find a couple of pounds if we were lucky. Didn't find anything that day. And then we'd start looking underneath the machines if we could.

One of us would tip it over. And yeah, it was it seemed better than working. It's better than having a paper round.

It wasn't really financially it wasn't. So let's just go back to your the part of your body that is relaxed even further. Just notice how that feels.

Try not to focus on ice cream. Mind you, you can focus on ice cream. It doesn't really make any difference.

Just focus on the feeling you have. Notice how calm is the whole of that part of your body. Maybe you might notice how that has also spread even more throughout your body to the point where you just really chilled out, really calm, feeling really peaceful.

And now focus again on the part that's relaxing. More of a focus this time. Noticing what changes have occurred.

Noticing how it feels different from before. Not needing a reason. Not needing an explanation.

Maybe just a bit of acceptance. A bit of realizing that, oh, that's interesting. But it's not as interesting as my story about the ice cream.

So I stopped Danny. That was his real name. I said, stop.

He said, what? He put his hands up like, no, don't worry. I said, I don't need, I can't, I don't got no money. Got no money.

Can't pay you for the ice creams. And he said, well, don't worry, I'll give you, you can have ice cream on the house. I said, thanks.

So he did an ice cream. I think that, I'm not sure if I've got a cone, like a chocolate flake thing. Can't remember that exact detail.

And I was so glad. Thank you so much. So we're walking home and my friend Dean said, why didn't I get one? I said, oh, what? He said, what didn't I get? I want an ice cream.

I said, well, go and buy one then. He said, I ain't got no money either. I said, well, go, go and join the karate club.

Join a club with someone who works at an ice cream place, goes to the club so you can get to know them. Do the work that I had to do. And he got annoyed.

So I went, come on then, let's go back. And I said, Danny baby. He said, don't ever call me Danny baby.

I said, oh, okay. He said, I suppose Nobby here can have one as well. Can he? He said, okay.

So he did, he made him an ice cream in a cone. I don't know if he got a flake. I can't remember if I got a flake.

I can't be held responsible for the truthfulness of this story because I can't tell you whether or not I got a flake or not. I think I might have done, but I think also I might not have done. I might have settled for a bit of strawberry, um, you know, maybe some sprinkles, something like that, but I might have had that and a flake.

It is possible. So we're walking up the hill again. So we walk all the way back.

He's, I'm just eating mine. I'm taking my time, just eating it. He's eating it and it's all over his face, dripped all down his top, but it's all around his face.

Almost like he just, like he'd put lipstick on and decided to just, I don't know, cover his face with ice cream. And I said, why are you doing that? Why? He said, what do you mean? I said, why are you covering your face with ice cream? So go back, focus on your relax and even deeper part. That's not what he said.

This is never going back to this thing. Focus on that. That would be weird, wouldn't it? Why are you, why are you spreading ice cream all over your face? Because focus on your back, focus on, on your leg, focus on that part that's relaxed.

What are you talking about Dean? What are you doing? And so yeah, just focus back on the relaxing even more part and then just skip back to the other part, jump over to the other part, lightly, the relaxing part. Notice that feeling, then skip back again to the relaxing more deeply, then skip back again, then again, and just skip between them. Relaxing deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed.

And as you move between each one, notice how it affects the relaxed part even more in a positive way. Relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed. And just keep moving it back and forward.

Relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed, relaxing more deeply, relaxed. So I say to my friend Dean, I said, why are you rubbing ice cream all over your face? And he said, I'm not rubbing, I haven't rubbed ice cream all over my face. I said, well, why is ice cream all over your face then? He said, because I was eating ice cream.

Okay, it doesn't explain why it's all over your face. He said, okay, I'm a messy eater. I said, is that really the reason? He said, no.

I said, well, partly. Yes, that's the reason. I said, well, in that case, why don't you wipe it off? He said, I don't want to wipe it off.

I said, why? Why don't you want to walk down the street and go home with ice cream all over your face? He said, yes. I said, why? He said, because when I get home, I'm going to tell my dad that I had ice cream and I got free ice cream. And he won't believe me.

But if I go in with ice cream all over my face, and the cone on my head, and the flake sticking out of my ear, the chocolate flake, he can't not believe me, can he? I said, yeah, but isn't it a bit of a waste of an ice cream and a flake and a corn, you know, the cone thing. I mean, wouldn't it be better just to have eaten it rather than to spread it all over your body? He said, I didn't spread it all over my body. Don't get weird.

I said, no, I mean, not on your face. He said, okay. He's went in a different direction then, didn't it? I said, yeah, I know.

I didn't mean that. I said, why? Why? It's just like why doesn't your dad believe you? Why doesn't he believe anything you say? He said, simple. I said, why? He said, I'm a liar.

I constantly lie. I thought, really? He said, yeah. So I've been friends with you, best friends for five years, and now you're telling me that you're a liar.

So have you been lying to me? He said, yes. Why are you saying yes like I should know? Well, did you really believe I was a lion tamer and I was half scorpion and that I could swim underwater and I was born with a parachute sticking out of my foot? Did you believe any of that stuff? I don't know. I just perhaps I just wasn't listening.

So that's your problem. I might be a liar. At least I listen to people.

You just don't listen. That's why you didn't even notice I was lying. I said, well, what do you mean? Give me an example.

He said, what about the other day? Last Friday, I told you, I actually sat you down and told you that I'd had my head removed and they put a new head on. But this one was a week older than a week, the one before, so that I could know what the answer would be to the exam in a couple of days time. I said, yeah.

So you didn't question that, no? I said, question what? He said, you're not even listening now. Listening about what? To what? I am listening. You said something about my head.

The headteacher marked an exam or something. No, I didn't say that. I said, no, I know you said something about a head and an exam and stuff.

He said to me, just because you can tell me what I said doesn't mean you were listening. It's just a basic short term memory. You just regurgitated to me what you remember I said, even though you weren't actually giving any kind of attention to what I was saying.

And I said, what's this got to do with ice cream? He said, nothing, but it's also got nothing to do with the, you know, relaxing different parts of your body either, has it? I said, what? He said, the podcast, the recording you're doing. Oh, yeah, I forgot all about that. You shouldn't really, that's the point of what you're doing here.

I mean, this isn't, you don't want to give the title, oh, the ice cream story, are you? Probably not. So perhaps you should get back with talking about what you were originally talking about, and leave me alone. All right, Dean, blimey.

All right, okay, here we go. So, one last time. Focus on the relaxed, even deeper part of your body.

Then jump over to the other part of your body. Relaxing. Relaxed.

Relaxed. Move over to the other part. Relaxing, even deeper.

Jump over. Relaxed. Relaxing, even deeper.

Relaxed. And you may be thinking, but you just said relaxing, now you change it to relaxed. Yeah, because it works smoother with the other one.

Yeah, but you can't just change things mid-term. I said, yes, I can. I can.

I just, you know, just focus on how relaxed you feel. Okay. Relaxing, even deeper.

Relaxed. Relaxing, even deeper. Relaxed.

Relaxing, even deeper. Relaxed. Relaxing, even deeper.

Relaxed. There's a plane go past in the background. Waving goodbye.

Letting us know it's the end of the recording. Thank you for listening. Remember to be kind to yourself because you deserve to be happy.

Be gentle with yourself. You deserve to feel safe. Lots of love.

Bye.