Painfully Right

From   http://www.yogajournal.com/dailyinsight/022007.html

Feb 20, 2007

Aging, sickness, and moments of pain are intrinsic to the life of all of our bodies. Bodily pain comes in many guises—some of it is chronic, some temporary, some unavoidable. Our first response is to resist it. We have numerous strategies to ward off pain or to camouflage it with distraction. Aversion, terror, and agitation interweave themselves with the experiences in our bodies, and we are easily lost in dread and despair. We may even see our bodies as enemies, sabotaging our well-being and happiness. When we are enmeshed in this knot of fear and resistance, there is little space for healing or compassionate attention to occur.

And yet we can learn to touch discomfort and pain with an attention that is loving, accepting, and spacious. We can learn to befriend our bodies, even in the moments when they are most distressed and uncomfortable. We can discover that it is possible to release aversion and fear, and see that there is a difference between the sensations occurring in our bodies and the thoughts and emotions reacting to those sensations. Instead of running from pain, we can bring a curious and caring attention into the heart of pain.

Meditation offers a unique way of responding to pain in our bodies. Instead of employing strategies to avoid it, we learn to investigate calmly what our bodies are actually experiencing. We can approach the core of pain with compassion and acceptance. This is the first step toward healing and releasing the agitation and dread that often intensify pain.