Best of the Archives: How to Outsmart Your Pain | Christiane Wolf

Sit in meditation for a few minutes and you’re likely to experience pain, either physical or psychological. Hang around the meditation scene for very long, and you are likely to hear the expression, “Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.” 

And that’s what this episode is all about— boosting your pain tolerance through meditation. Because pain really is inevitable, but can you reduce your suffering through mindfulness and compassion? 

Our guest today, Christiane Wolf, argues ‘yes’. She is a physician turned mindfulness and compassion teacher and teacher trainer. She is an authorized Buddhist teacher in the Insight (Vipassana) meditation tradition, teaching classes and retreats worldwide, and she’s also the author of Outsmart Your Pain: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion to Help You Leave Chronic Pain Behind.

In this episode we talk about:

• Meditation techniques that offer us a better relationship to pain
• How to work with the physicality of pain
• The stories we tell ourselves about our pain
• And seeing pain as an opportunity

Where to find Christiane Wolf online: 

Website: christianewolf.com

Social Media:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube

Books Mentioned:

• Outsmart Your Pain: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion to Help You Leave Chronic Pain Behind

Other Resources Mentioned:

• Tara Brach
• Dr. Kristin Neff
• Shinzen Young
• Joseph Goldstein
• Jon Kabat-Zinn and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
• Jack Kornfield
• The Crime of the Century by Alex Gibney

Additional Resources:

Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://10percenthappier.app.link/install