This is the 10% happier podcast.

I'm Dan Harris.

Hey, everybody.

If you sit in meditation for a few minutes, you are likely to experience some degree of

pain, either physical or psychological.

If you hang around in the meditation scene for very long, you are very likely to hear this

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 also compassion?

Dr. Cristiana Wolfe argues, yes, she is a physician-turned-mindfulness and compassion teacher

and also teacher-trainer.

She is an authorized Buddhist teacher in the insight or Vipassana meditation tradition,

teaching classes and retreats around the world.

She's also the author of a book called Outsmart Your Pain.

In this conversation, we talk about meditation techniques that will help you have a better

relationship to your pain, separating your pain from the stressful thoughts that often

come with it, rewriting the stories we tell ourselves about our pain, strengthening our

inner and outer support systems, and seeing our experience of pain as an opportunity.

I should say this episode originally aired back in July of 2021.

It became very popular, so we're reposting it this week and pairing it with Monday's

...