The comfortable breath begins to dissolve the pain away. Or if there’s a sense of tension around the pain, you can dissolve the tension away. Even though the pain may stay there, dissolving the tension around it can help a lot.

"Some kinds of pain you can work through. As you expand the sense of the comfortable breath, it begins to dissolve the pain away. Or if there’s a sense of tension around the pain, you can dissolve the tension away. Even though the pain may stay there, dissolving the tension around it can help a lot. It makes it a lot easier to live with these things. So get as much of the body as comfortable as you can."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Pleasure & Pain" (Meditations3)

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