Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Sitting with Discomfort

Over the years here on the blog I love to share tools that I've gained to help manage life's unbalances. Sometimes this will include ways to combat pain and discomfort. 

When my body is so completely compromised, the pain becomes a sidebar to the unnerving discomfort of my internal systems fighting each other. 

I first started learning to meditate by using guided visualizations. This was a great introduction to me as I still needed to learn to step outside of the pain and look at it from an outside perspective. With simple breathing techniques during meditation I was able to take the edge of my pain. 

These days I am an avid subscriber to Calm.com and look forward to my daily "lie flat" time. I've found that lying flat on my back opens up my rib cage, gives me a break from the pain of costochondritis and it's a perfect time to reboot my mind. 

The app provides a great deal of content from guided meditations, music, masterclasses, imagery, and my favorite, daily themed meditations. 

Some of my favorite themes are of Resistance and Sitting with Discomfort. I always learn something new about myself and gain some knowledge on how resistance plays dirty in our fight for wellness. So, imagine my embarrassment in the fact that I've been resisting writing this little piece about resistance for over a year now! 

"What could be more futile, more insane, than create inner resistance to something that already is."- Eckert Tolle 

Resistance is so broad an energy in our lives. It can be from simple daily tasks that you put off, uncomfortable discussions that might lead to confrontation, daily traffic congestion to facing daily pain. The fact remains that the thing you avoid or resist is there whether you acknowledge it or not. You'r either going to do those dishes, or you won't. You can find a way to enjoy the task, you can make yourself miserable while doing it or you simply won't do it at all. 

By using the practice, or technique of "Sitting with Discomfort" you can visualize pain/discomfort from an outside perspective. By sitting with pain it doesn't mean that you have to like it, it just is. Of course you don't like it but the awareness of it lessons it's grip. 

I love this audio meditation by AboutKidsHealth on YouTube:  




There are many more videos out there that can guide you into sitting with discomfort and even help with resisting pain. 

I hope you find some peace with this. As always, I wish you wellness.