Today's reading is related to much of what I have written in this blog over the past couple of years. It seems as familiar as an old glove. Why attempt to say it all again when the miracles of technology allow me to create links to relevant posts?
In Ayya Khema's quote at the top of the page, she mentions feeling "the skin under the skin." I also like the way Eckhart Tolle talks about the "inner body." In the Labels column to the right of this text, you will find "inner body." When you click on that, you will have the posts.
Mariechild speaks of exploring pain with "deep interest and attention." Here are two posts with my own take on that concept, what I call "befriending pain": Link to first post; and link to second post.
I have also written about using what Mariechild calls "mindful movement," and that I learned from Eckhart Tolle to call "inhabiting the body." Here is a link to that post.
Did anyone try the treeness exercise yesterday? I must confess that I did not, being down with a migraine and then battling a bit of stomach flu. But I think it important for me to try the practices that Mariechild mentions if I am sincere about becoming more mindful and open. At the end of each month, I think I will list all the practices suggested for that month, and then we will have an easily accessible list for a reminder.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment box below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com. Thank you.
Showing posts with label inhabit the body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inhabit the body. Show all posts
12 January 2013
12 June 2012
"The Power of Now" and Pain: The Inner Body
Twenty-second in a series.
"Water? What do you mean by that? I don't understand it." That is what a fish would say if it had a human mind. Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, page 107
When I first encountered Tolle's writings several years ago, I was most confused about what he calls the "inner body." Here is how he writes about this:
In your natural state of connectedness with Being, [a] deeper reality can be felt at every moment by the invisible inner body, the animating presence within you. from the website, SpiritLibrary.
What I call the inner body isn't really the body any more, but life energy, the bridge between form and formlessness. from Tolle's A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life's Purpose
When you are in touch with the inner body, you are not in touch with your body any more, nor are you identified with your mind. from Tolle's A New Earth
What really helped me with the concept was to follow his advice on page 112 of "The Power of Now": "[d]irect your attention into the body. Feel it from within...Can you feel the subtle energy field that pervades the entire body and gives vibrant life to every organ and cell?" He recommends beginning with your hands: direct your attention to your hands and let yourself feel the life within, then expand your awareness -- gradually -- to your entire body.
How does this relate to pain management?
Because becoming aware of the inner body takes us out of and away from the mind, which is where we create suffering with worry, fear, upset, judgement and disappointment.
Because using the outer body to become aware of the inner body reduces the importance (I just love this paradox) of the pain-filled outer body.
Because we find that -- having gone beyond our thought-filled and egocentric minds, through our pain-racked bodies, and into awareness of the inner body (Presence) -- we have developed a remarkably effective pain management tool.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment link below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com. Thank you.
"Water? What do you mean by that? I don't understand it." That is what a fish would say if it had a human mind. Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, page 107
When I first encountered Tolle's writings several years ago, I was most confused about what he calls the "inner body." Here is how he writes about this:
In your natural state of connectedness with Being, [a] deeper reality can be felt at every moment by the invisible inner body, the animating presence within you. from the website, SpiritLibrary.
What I call the inner body isn't really the body any more, but life energy, the bridge between form and formlessness. from Tolle's A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life's Purpose
When you are in touch with the inner body, you are not in touch with your body any more, nor are you identified with your mind. from Tolle's A New Earth
What really helped me with the concept was to follow his advice on page 112 of "The Power of Now": "[d]irect your attention into the body. Feel it from within...Can you feel the subtle energy field that pervades the entire body and gives vibrant life to every organ and cell?" He recommends beginning with your hands: direct your attention to your hands and let yourself feel the life within, then expand your awareness -- gradually -- to your entire body.
How does this relate to pain management?
Because becoming aware of the inner body takes us out of and away from the mind, which is where we create suffering with worry, fear, upset, judgement and disappointment.
Because using the outer body to become aware of the inner body reduces the importance (I just love this paradox) of the pain-filled outer body.
Because we find that -- having gone beyond our thought-filled and egocentric minds, through our pain-racked bodies, and into awareness of the inner body (Presence) -- we have developed a remarkably effective pain management tool.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment link below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com. Thank you.
04 June 2012
"The Power of Now" and Pain: Waiting
Twentieth in a series
"To stay present in everyday life, it helps to be deeply rooted within yourself; otherwise the mind, which has incredible momentum, will drag you along like a wild river...[Rooted within yourself] means to inhabit your body fully. To always have some of your attention in the inner energy field of your body." Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, page 94
I have posted before about the seeming conundrum -- for those of us living with chronic pain, anyway -- in Tolle's teachings about inhabiting the body: here and here, for example. In today's post, I want to go a bit further than the "why would I want to inhabit this body that is causing me so much pain?" question, and talk about waiting as an aspect of being deeply rooted in our pain-filled selves.
Tolle advocates for a kind of alert waiting, a deep presence to one's body and to the world that transcends the "egoic mind" and so places us in a state of awareness in which we are most fully ourselves. There is a rich spiritual tradition across religions for this state of being:
* Zen Buddhism speaks of satori, the essence of Zen that is the ultimate goal and indication of enlightenment. It is also called no mind.
* Jesus tells parables of the bridesmaids waiting with their lamps so that they don't miss the bridegroom and the wedding; and of the waiting servant who "...stays awake, alert, poised, still, lest he miss the master's arrival." page 95
* Hindus developed the practice of yoga, the goal of which is to unite the human with the divine by way of the body/self. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity. We need only be awake, alive in the present moment. -Thich Nhat Hanh-
So there's a sense of presence, of awareness that, while serene, still holds an element of anticipation, of waiting, of allowing the body in its awake state to be a conduit to the divine.
What does waiting mean to those of us who are daily attended by pain?
It means that we nurture the world around and beyond and within our bodies rather than narrow our focus to the endless ache. It means that we then let this broader sense of what life offers us to ever so slightly reduce the meaning and the significance of our pain. And it means that, as we welcome and enter into that which is sacred, our pain takes its relative place: not cured, but relegated, so that we are finding our way through and with our pain.
Thus, we embody the paradox, and our pain-racked bodies become not the barrier to but the conductor of the sacred within and without.
But when it gets really bad, we take a pill and go to bed, because while we may be pilgrims, we are not masochists.
It's about balance.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment link below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com. Thank you.
"To stay present in everyday life, it helps to be deeply rooted within yourself; otherwise the mind, which has incredible momentum, will drag you along like a wild river...[Rooted within yourself] means to inhabit your body fully. To always have some of your attention in the inner energy field of your body." Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, page 94
I have posted before about the seeming conundrum -- for those of us living with chronic pain, anyway -- in Tolle's teachings about inhabiting the body: here and here, for example. In today's post, I want to go a bit further than the "why would I want to inhabit this body that is causing me so much pain?" question, and talk about waiting as an aspect of being deeply rooted in our pain-filled selves.
Tolle advocates for a kind of alert waiting, a deep presence to one's body and to the world that transcends the "egoic mind" and so places us in a state of awareness in which we are most fully ourselves. There is a rich spiritual tradition across religions for this state of being:
* Zen Buddhism speaks of satori, the essence of Zen that is the ultimate goal and indication of enlightenment. It is also called no mind.
* Jesus tells parables of the bridesmaids waiting with their lamps so that they don't miss the bridegroom and the wedding; and of the waiting servant who "...stays awake, alert, poised, still, lest he miss the master's arrival." page 95
* Hindus developed the practice of yoga, the goal of which is to unite the human with the divine by way of the body/self. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity. We need only be awake, alive in the present moment. -Thich Nhat Hanh-
So there's a sense of presence, of awareness that, while serene, still holds an element of anticipation, of waiting, of allowing the body in its awake state to be a conduit to the divine.
What does waiting mean to those of us who are daily attended by pain?
It means that we nurture the world around and beyond and within our bodies rather than narrow our focus to the endless ache. It means that we then let this broader sense of what life offers us to ever so slightly reduce the meaning and the significance of our pain. And it means that, as we welcome and enter into that which is sacred, our pain takes its relative place: not cured, but relegated, so that we are finding our way through and with our pain.
Thus, we embody the paradox, and our pain-racked bodies become not the barrier to but the conductor of the sacred within and without.
But when it gets really bad, we take a pill and go to bed, because while we may be pilgrims, we are not masochists.
It's about balance.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment link below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com. Thank you.
09 January 2012
"The Power of Now" and Pain Management: Tools (2)
Fifth in a series.
Eckhart Tolle says that enlightenment is "your natural state of felt oneness with Being.
"It is a state if connectedness with something immeasurable and indestructible, something that, almost paradoxically, is essentially you and yet is much greater than you." (The Power of Now, p. 12)
He goes on to say that it is the inability to feel this connection that creates the illusion of separation from the world around us, from the people around us, from God. Today's post is about how this concept comes together with pain management.
One of the paradoxes of pain management is that, instead of fleeing from or anesthetizing the pain, our best practice is to be aware of it -- to embrace it, as it were. Several years ago I read a book by Stephen and Ondrea Levine entitled, Who Dies?, in which they explain that, when we turn toward the pain, paying attention to it and then flooding it with awareness, we take away its power over us. For me, it seems to recede, become less significant; it loses that monolithic presence that looms over me and affects all I do.
There is only one way to test this theory: try it. I want to share with you some techniques I have developed over the years of nearly constant migraine pain, in the hope that they will help you.
1. Deep relaxation
I have posted about this practice before, in a discussion about inhabiting our bodies. For now, I'll just summarize by saying that deep relaxation is essential for my meditation and pain management practices. Deep relaxation methods include using the breath, focusing on major muscle groups, and practicing body awareness and visualization. There are many websites that teach deep relaxation. Here are a few:
* Inner Health Studio
* Mayo Clinic
* University of Maryland
A wonderful aspect of deep relaxation is that, after daily practice, it becomes so much a way of life that you don't need basic tools any more: your body simply learns to relax into pain and other unpleasant stimuli. You find yourself taking a deep breath during confrontation or stress or pain without ever having been aware that you decided to go into deep relaxation.
Just don't forget to breathe, deeply, slowly, throughout your practice.
2. Attend to the pain
Instead of running away from your pain, turn toward it. Name how it feels -- throbbing, icy, stabbing, pressure, fiery -- and then pay attention to how it changes. It can be helpful to know that pain does not remain a block of heavy and overwhelming feeling: it dances, it moves, it changes aspect. Following and naming it -- a habit that, admittedly, takes some discipline at first -- floods your pain with your awareness. Naming it takes some of the fear out of it.
3. Flood the pain
If you like and derive benefit from visualization, use your imagination: imagine a healing light, perhaps a soothing color, flooding the pain; picture a balmy summer breeze wafting through and dissipating it; visualize yourself by the ocean or in a sun-lit meadow.
4. Stay with it for a while
Remain in that calm state for a while. Fall asleep. Meditate. When you first begin, you will find that any movement or conversation forces you immediately out of your relaxed state. But as you practice, you will find that you are better able to maintain it even when moving on to the next activity.
After you have practised daily for a while, you will find that your body learns a new way of being, that you are able to call up the relaxation response without trouble, and even that it is readily available and already in gear before you consciously reach for it. It goes back to the quote that begins this post, doesn't it? Connecting with our pain connects us with our bodies. The resulting calm connects us with our spirits, and thus with God, or Being.
May you find your state of Being through your pain.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Connect link, below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com.
Eckhart Tolle says that enlightenment is "your natural state of felt oneness with Being.
"It is a state if connectedness with something immeasurable and indestructible, something that, almost paradoxically, is essentially you and yet is much greater than you." (The Power of Now, p. 12)
He goes on to say that it is the inability to feel this connection that creates the illusion of separation from the world around us, from the people around us, from God. Today's post is about how this concept comes together with pain management.
One of the paradoxes of pain management is that, instead of fleeing from or anesthetizing the pain, our best practice is to be aware of it -- to embrace it, as it were. Several years ago I read a book by Stephen and Ondrea Levine entitled, Who Dies?, in which they explain that, when we turn toward the pain, paying attention to it and then flooding it with awareness, we take away its power over us. For me, it seems to recede, become less significant; it loses that monolithic presence that looms over me and affects all I do.
There is only one way to test this theory: try it. I want to share with you some techniques I have developed over the years of nearly constant migraine pain, in the hope that they will help you.
1. Deep relaxation
I have posted about this practice before, in a discussion about inhabiting our bodies. For now, I'll just summarize by saying that deep relaxation is essential for my meditation and pain management practices. Deep relaxation methods include using the breath, focusing on major muscle groups, and practicing body awareness and visualization. There are many websites that teach deep relaxation. Here are a few:
* Inner Health Studio
* Mayo Clinic
* University of Maryland
A wonderful aspect of deep relaxation is that, after daily practice, it becomes so much a way of life that you don't need basic tools any more: your body simply learns to relax into pain and other unpleasant stimuli. You find yourself taking a deep breath during confrontation or stress or pain without ever having been aware that you decided to go into deep relaxation.
Just don't forget to breathe, deeply, slowly, throughout your practice.
2. Attend to the pain
Instead of running away from your pain, turn toward it. Name how it feels -- throbbing, icy, stabbing, pressure, fiery -- and then pay attention to how it changes. It can be helpful to know that pain does not remain a block of heavy and overwhelming feeling: it dances, it moves, it changes aspect. Following and naming it -- a habit that, admittedly, takes some discipline at first -- floods your pain with your awareness. Naming it takes some of the fear out of it.
3. Flood the pain
If you like and derive benefit from visualization, use your imagination: imagine a healing light, perhaps a soothing color, flooding the pain; picture a balmy summer breeze wafting through and dissipating it; visualize yourself by the ocean or in a sun-lit meadow.
4. Stay with it for a while
Remain in that calm state for a while. Fall asleep. Meditate. When you first begin, you will find that any movement or conversation forces you immediately out of your relaxed state. But as you practice, you will find that you are better able to maintain it even when moving on to the next activity.
After you have practised daily for a while, you will find that your body learns a new way of being, that you are able to call up the relaxation response without trouble, and even that it is readily available and already in gear before you consciously reach for it. It goes back to the quote that begins this post, doesn't it? Connecting with our pain connects us with our bodies. The resulting calm connects us with our spirits, and thus with God, or Being.
May you find your state of Being through your pain.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Connect link, below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com.
31 May 2011
Inhabiting Your Body: Part II
In my previous post, I described how learning to "inhabit" our bodies is an essential (I think) tool in pain management (PM). This post will briefly add to this concept because I'd just like to write a bit about yoga.
I am not a yoga expert. But I have learned that yoga is all about inhabiting the body - just never really uses that phrase - and so also a tool for pain management. I use what is called Iyengar Yoga, developed by BKS Iyengar, a world-renowned teacher. Iyengar Yoga is a kind of yoga that has made it possible for me to truly enjoy yoga even though I live with chronic pain.
I learned Iyengar Yoga from Carolyn Bluemle, who lives and teaches here in Washington, DC.
I will not try to describe the asanas and poses, not being a teacher of yoga and not wanting to lead anyone astray. But I will say a bit about how Iyengar Yoga helps with PM and inhabiting the body.
What Carolyn taught me is a very gentle process through the poses that uses bolsters and pillows so that the head is never unsupported or under any stress at all. These poses are all described and pictured in the book, Iyengar Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. Thus I can gently stretch, using muscles that are creaky from the physical inactivity imposed by chronic pain, and yet - with my head supported - not bring on or make worse a migraine. And the book is packed full of other ways to practice yoga for various physical ills and conditions.
What I have found is that yoga itself is a practice in inhabiting the body. I am focused on being gentle in my movements, careful to support my head, and listening to my body tell me when I have been long enough in a pose. It's all about being in and with the body, which - as I described in the previous post - is for me an essential part of PM. For one thing, I have found that the feeling of presence to the body and its physical movements lasts well beyond the yoga session, reminding me to stay present, to breathe, to be gentle. For another, I find that the presence of physical pain lessens in importance - not that it goes away, but that it recedes a bit into the background.
Sometimes I do yoga before my meditation, sometimes afterwards. Sometimes I take thirty minutes with it, sometimes ten. Often I go for days without any yoga, and when I come back to it, I am always grateful for how it makes me feel.
Being present to my body allows me to be present to the Sacred in all of life:
Not think a lot and know that I am God. Not get real busy, do alot of things and know that I am God. Be still to come close to the Sacred, to God, to Allah, to The Great Spirit, to Brahma. It's about a stillness of body, mind and spirit that is cultivated through yoga and similar practices, meditation and prayer.
This is how chronic pain links to and from my spiritual life. This is why I write this blog: to remind myself that God is present in all of my life and that my pain can be involved in leading me ever closer to that which is sacred and holy.
May you find help and support in this post.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment link below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com.
I am not a yoga expert. But I have learned that yoga is all about inhabiting the body - just never really uses that phrase - and so also a tool for pain management. I use what is called Iyengar Yoga, developed by BKS Iyengar, a world-renowned teacher. Iyengar Yoga is a kind of yoga that has made it possible for me to truly enjoy yoga even though I live with chronic pain.
I learned Iyengar Yoga from Carolyn Bluemle, who lives and teaches here in Washington, DC.
I will not try to describe the asanas and poses, not being a teacher of yoga and not wanting to lead anyone astray. But I will say a bit about how Iyengar Yoga helps with PM and inhabiting the body.
What Carolyn taught me is a very gentle process through the poses that uses bolsters and pillows so that the head is never unsupported or under any stress at all. These poses are all described and pictured in the book, Iyengar Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. Thus I can gently stretch, using muscles that are creaky from the physical inactivity imposed by chronic pain, and yet - with my head supported - not bring on or make worse a migraine. And the book is packed full of other ways to practice yoga for various physical ills and conditions.
What I have found is that yoga itself is a practice in inhabiting the body. I am focused on being gentle in my movements, careful to support my head, and listening to my body tell me when I have been long enough in a pose. It's all about being in and with the body, which - as I described in the previous post - is for me an essential part of PM. For one thing, I have found that the feeling of presence to the body and its physical movements lasts well beyond the yoga session, reminding me to stay present, to breathe, to be gentle. For another, I find that the presence of physical pain lessens in importance - not that it goes away, but that it recedes a bit into the background.
Sometimes I do yoga before my meditation, sometimes afterwards. Sometimes I take thirty minutes with it, sometimes ten. Often I go for days without any yoga, and when I come back to it, I am always grateful for how it makes me feel.
Being present to my body allows me to be present to the Sacred in all of life:
"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
Not think a lot and know that I am God. Not get real busy, do alot of things and know that I am God. Be still to come close to the Sacred, to God, to Allah, to The Great Spirit, to Brahma. It's about a stillness of body, mind and spirit that is cultivated through yoga and similar practices, meditation and prayer.
This is how chronic pain links to and from my spiritual life. This is why I write this blog: to remind myself that God is present in all of my life and that my pain can be involved in leading me ever closer to that which is sacred and holy.
May you find help and support in this post.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment link below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com.
27 May 2011
Inhabiting Our Bodies: An Important Part of Pain Management
In my previous post, I used the phrase, "inhabit your body," which I would think is unfamiliar unless you have read some Eckhart Tolle. I have found it to be an essential tool in my pain management (PM) repertoire, having gone beyond the initial reaction of, "Inhabit my body? With all this pain? Why would I want to do that?"
To repeat a bit from my previous post, the thought of inhabiting the body that is causing us so much physical pain is jarring. Yet here in this paradox is the fulcrum providing the essential balance that frees my mind and spirit to do the more creative and productive work of PM. I simply cannot manage my pain well when my mind is screeching with frustration, anxiety, fear, and whatever emotions arise along with chronic physical pain. And since more and more medication is not an option (not that I am averse to medication, but that the 9 pills monthly allowed by my health care plan leave me with as many as 9 migraines unmedicated), good PM skills have become essential. Calming my mind and spirit includes calming my body, and this is best done by being fully present to my body, inhabiting it - feeling, as it were, every cell.
So, on to the phrase, "inhabiting our bodies." Eckhart Tolle uses this phrase in his book, The Power of Now. This book, which I have both read and listened to on CD, mentions nothing about pain, illness or PM, yet it has been instrumental for me in developing the life skills for living with chronic pain: so much so, in fact, that I will soon begin a series about the book similar to the one I wrote in April and May about Toni Bernhard's book, How To Be Sick.
The Four Steps to Inhabiting Your Body in Pain Management
1. Gentle Stretching
2. Breathing
3. Inhabit Your Body
4. Pain Management Practices
Step One - Gentle Stretching
Tense muscles are a natural by-product of physical pain because the body's natural response - for survival's sake - is to flee or otherwise fight the pain. Our muscles respond to the adrenalin coursing through our bodies in automatic response to the pain stimulus by tensing. That aids survival in the moment, but becomes a complication with chronic pain. So I find that a gentle stretch of my major muscle groups from whatever position I need to assume - standing, sitting, lying down - is the best way to begin this pain management practice.
Step Two - Breathing
I've said it before, I'll say it again: we all breathe all the time. How handy a tool is that? During and after my stretching, I make sure to breathe deeply and slowly. There are various ways to practice conscious breathing: a few deep, slow breaths; breathing regularly and counting to ten on the inhales; sipping air through the mouth and letting it out in a sigh - there are many ways to become conscious of our breathing so to calm our mind/spirit/body.
Step Three - Inhabit the Body
In whatever position I have assumed, I then focus my attention on feeling the life in my body. There are other ways to say this: Eckhart Tolle often uses the phrase, the inner body; Christians refer to the Holy Spirit descending; Native Americans feel a sacred connection to Mother Earth. Though these phrases are all different and come from varied theological and philosophical places, I believe that they point to the same thing: the sacred life energy that enlivens all sentient beings.
But, philosophy aside, how does it work? If you have never tried it before, allow yourself to begin with one part of the body. Don't try to feel the whole body the first time you attempt this or you might become frustrated and quit. Focus on your body and discover if you notice a warmth, or tingling, or energetic feeling in any one part, perhaps your hands or feet. Simply focus on that feeling without judgment or expectation and letting go of the thoughts that arise. Just feel it. That is your practice for now: once that becomes natural, expand your focus gradually to other areas of your body until, after more practice (it does not matter how much or how little), you experience that feeling pervading all of your body.
Step Four - Turn to other PM Practices
Now that you have gently stretched, breathed, and inhabited your body or at least part of your body, you can turn with quietly creative attention to other PM practices like meditation, prayer, prayer beads, listening to music or relaxation CD - whatever works for you.
As with all new practices, go easy on yourself. This is obviously not meant to add to your stress, it is meant to reduce it. If you don't "get" inhabiting your body, let it go for a while and try again later, or better yet, find a copy of Tolle's book and read it for yourself.
May your practice lead you to spiritual freedom and reduction of physical pain.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment link below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com. Thank you.
To repeat a bit from my previous post, the thought of inhabiting the body that is causing us so much physical pain is jarring. Yet here in this paradox is the fulcrum providing the essential balance that frees my mind and spirit to do the more creative and productive work of PM. I simply cannot manage my pain well when my mind is screeching with frustration, anxiety, fear, and whatever emotions arise along with chronic physical pain. And since more and more medication is not an option (not that I am averse to medication, but that the 9 pills monthly allowed by my health care plan leave me with as many as 9 migraines unmedicated), good PM skills have become essential. Calming my mind and spirit includes calming my body, and this is best done by being fully present to my body, inhabiting it - feeling, as it were, every cell.
So, on to the phrase, "inhabiting our bodies." Eckhart Tolle uses this phrase in his book, The Power of Now. This book, which I have both read and listened to on CD, mentions nothing about pain, illness or PM, yet it has been instrumental for me in developing the life skills for living with chronic pain: so much so, in fact, that I will soon begin a series about the book similar to the one I wrote in April and May about Toni Bernhard's book, How To Be Sick.
The Four Steps to Inhabiting Your Body in Pain Management
1. Gentle Stretching
2. Breathing
3. Inhabit Your Body
4. Pain Management Practices
Step One - Gentle Stretching
Tense muscles are a natural by-product of physical pain because the body's natural response - for survival's sake - is to flee or otherwise fight the pain. Our muscles respond to the adrenalin coursing through our bodies in automatic response to the pain stimulus by tensing. That aids survival in the moment, but becomes a complication with chronic pain. So I find that a gentle stretch of my major muscle groups from whatever position I need to assume - standing, sitting, lying down - is the best way to begin this pain management practice.
Step Two - Breathing
I've said it before, I'll say it again: we all breathe all the time. How handy a tool is that? During and after my stretching, I make sure to breathe deeply and slowly. There are various ways to practice conscious breathing: a few deep, slow breaths; breathing regularly and counting to ten on the inhales; sipping air through the mouth and letting it out in a sigh - there are many ways to become conscious of our breathing so to calm our mind/spirit/body.
Step Three - Inhabit the Body
In whatever position I have assumed, I then focus my attention on feeling the life in my body. There are other ways to say this: Eckhart Tolle often uses the phrase, the inner body; Christians refer to the Holy Spirit descending; Native Americans feel a sacred connection to Mother Earth. Though these phrases are all different and come from varied theological and philosophical places, I believe that they point to the same thing: the sacred life energy that enlivens all sentient beings.
But, philosophy aside, how does it work? If you have never tried it before, allow yourself to begin with one part of the body. Don't try to feel the whole body the first time you attempt this or you might become frustrated and quit. Focus on your body and discover if you notice a warmth, or tingling, or energetic feeling in any one part, perhaps your hands or feet. Simply focus on that feeling without judgment or expectation and letting go of the thoughts that arise. Just feel it. That is your practice for now: once that becomes natural, expand your focus gradually to other areas of your body until, after more practice (it does not matter how much or how little), you experience that feeling pervading all of your body.
Step Four - Turn to other PM Practices
Now that you have gently stretched, breathed, and inhabited your body or at least part of your body, you can turn with quietly creative attention to other PM practices like meditation, prayer, prayer beads, listening to music or relaxation CD - whatever works for you.
As with all new practices, go easy on yourself. This is obviously not meant to add to your stress, it is meant to reduce it. If you don't "get" inhabiting your body, let it go for a while and try again later, or better yet, find a copy of Tolle's book and read it for yourself.
May your practice lead you to spiritual freedom and reduction of physical pain.
I would love to hear from you. Please use the Comment link below, or email me at carold.marsh@gmail.com. Thank you.
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