How to Handle Tattoo Pain: A Mindset Guide for Long Sessions

During a tattoo session you face more than one challenge. Pain is the obvious one, but there's also staying still for hours, holding uncomfortable positions, having parts of your body exposed, and generally being in a vulnerable position. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have for all of it. Get control of your mind and the session becomes far more manageable.

This guide is about the mental side of getting tattooed, based on my own experience. I'm heavily tattooed myself. My longest stretch in the chair was four consecutive days of eight hours each, plus another day of ten hours. Much of how I approach pain comes from Buddhist ideas, and I'll explain them in plain terms as we go.

I tattoo very large projects in long sessions, including blackouts, which are the most painful tattoos you can get. How you handle the session matters as much as how I handle the machine.

Before the Session

• Sleep. Get a full night of sleep, ideally 8 hours. A tired mind has far less patience for pain.

• Eat. Have a good meal before the session.

• Hydrate. Come in well hydrated.

• Know what you're walking into. You chose this and you know what's coming. That matters more than it sounds, and it's where the mindset below starts.
  

My Approach: Acceptance, Surrender and Impermanence

Acceptance

Accept the pain instead of fighting it. That gives you agency over it: this was your choice, you know what's coming, and you accept it. When you let the pain come to you instead of mentally rejecting it, it feels easier.

Go one step further and welcome it. I don't mean that in any twisted, masochistic way. I mean shifting your thinking from "I hate this, I can't wait for it to be over" to "I'm grateful to be able to feel this." Pain is part of life, and being able to experience it is part of the gift of being alive.

This is also where nonattachment comes in. Most of us are attached to the idea that pain is something to avoid at all costs. Let that idea go. You're not avoiding it today, and that's fine.

Surrender

The body's natural reaction to pain is to contract and pull away from it. That only makes it worse. Surrender to the fact that this is what you're experiencing right now, and actively relax. Keep your muscles as loose as you can. It feels far less painful when your body isn't fighting it.

Impermanence

Like everything in life, this experience is temporary. It will be over soon, and then it will be as if it never happened. Use it as a chance to grow and be grateful, instead of treating it as the enemy.

Nonduality

Don't judge the experience as good or bad. It's neither. It's neutral, and your mental approach decides how you perceive it. Let it come to you without judgment. You're in charge of your perception.

Breathing: The Most Powerful Tool You Have

Breathing is the single most powerful active thing you can do to relax your body and your mind.

Breathe slowly and deeply, and make the exhale longer than the inhale. Try breathing in for about 4 seconds and out for about 6. Slow breathing like this lowers your heart rate and shifts your nervous system into its calm, rest-and-recover mode, and studies have found it reduces how intense pain feels.

Don't breathe fast and hard. Rapid deep breathing can leave you lightheaded, which is the last thing you want in a long session. Slow and calm is the goal.

Breathing also works like meditation. Listening to your breath and focusing on it pulls your attention away from the pain.

Affirmations for the Chair

Repeat these in your head when it gets hard:

• I chose this. I accept this.

• I'm grateful to be here and able to experience this.

• This pain is temporary, like everything in life.

• It's neither good nor bad. I decide how I perceive it.

• I'm in control of what I feel.

• I'm grateful for my health and for this body we're tattooing today.

During the Session

Should you take breaks? During a blackout I suggest no breaks. If you must take one, keep it short. Long breaks tend to make it harder to go back into the pain.

What if you feel the urge to move or flinch? Go back to your breathing and relax your muscles. The urge comes from tension, so release it.

Headphones, music, podcasts? Use any tool that helps you stay in the zone.

What if you reach your limit? This isn't a competition. If you reach your limit, tell me and we'll stop. Listen to your body. There's no judgment if you need to cut a session short.

Other Ways to Take the Edge Off

If you're getting a blackout and want to reduce the pain physically as well as mentally, read my guide on how to use numbing cream for a blackout tattoo. To understand why blackout sessions are so intense in the first place, read how blackout differs from a regular tattoo.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you deal with tattoo pain? Accept it instead of fighting it, keep your muscles relaxed, and breathe slowly with a longer exhale than inhale. Fighting the pain and tensing up both make it feel worse.

How do you prepare mentally for a long tattoo session? Get a full night of sleep, eat a good meal, come well hydrated, and go in accepting that it will hurt. You chose this and you know what's coming. That acceptance is the foundation for everything else.

Does breathing help with tattoo pain? Yes. Slow breathing with a long exhale lowers your heart rate, calms your nervous system, and has been shown to reduce how intense pain feels. Avoid fast, heavy breathing, which can make you lightheaded.

Should you take breaks during a long tattoo session? For a blackout, I suggest no breaks. If you need one, keep it short, because long breaks make it harder to go back into the pain.

Can you listen to music or podcasts during a tattoo? Yes. Use whatever helps you stay in the zone.

What if the pain gets too much during a tattoo? Tell your artist. It isn't a competition. With me, if you reach your limit we stop, with no judgment.

Planning a large project? Book a consultation or see my blackout tattoo portfolio.