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

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

From Therapy in a Nutshell by Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

April 17, 2026 · 11 min · Episode 238

About this episode

This episode guides listeners through a somatic tracking exercise to help manage chronic pain by replacing fear with curiosity.

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 Learn the skills to Regulate your Emotions, join the membership: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/membership ⚠️ 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 episode, 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. Looking for…

People in this episode

Host: Emma McAdam

Topics covered

  • chronic pain
  • somatic tracking
  • Pain Reprocessing Therapy
  • neuroplastic pain
  • emotional regulation

Keywords

  • chronic pain
  • somatic tracking
  • Pain Reprocessing Therapy
  • neuroplastic pain
  • emotional regulation
  • back pain
  • mindfulness

Sponsors

BetterHelp

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pain Psychology Center

Books & works: The Way Out of Chronic Pain

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