Pain sucks, but it can be remarkably effective at reordering our priorities. Pain can remind us of the meaninglessness of the elitism of physical culture, the full lotus asana, statuesque posture, or marathon sitting sessions. Sufficient pain could make snarling curs of us all and thus remind us that the real purpose of meditation is not bragging rights but simply becoming the person that our dog already thinks we are.
The fool’s errand of either concentration or contemplation will excite your amygdala, the seat of anxiety and aggression – so don’t do that. The gentle path of mindfulness’ noticing: vulnerably, passively, viscerally, randomly, and fleetingly as well as meditations’ physical relaxation and mental release will both calm our anxious and aggressive amygdala as well as stimulate our anterior cingulate gyrus (the seat of empathy) – this is our ticket to being less of a cranky bastard. Fortunately the latter is as easy as silently and mentally reciting both the demonstrative pronoun “this” during our inhalation and the monosyllabic verb “ease” during our exhalation. Profoundly efficient, it’s effects are not seen in months or weeks but rather mere minutes or even seconds; which can come in handy during flare-ups.
If brisk walking is an option, then merely replace “this” with “perceiving” and “ease” with “releasing.” The asymmetric movements of walking can act as a massage to our hippocampus helping us to better process painful sensations and emotions.
One of the few benefits of chronic pain is that it enhances our perception of our subtle energy. If dexterity is still an option hand gesture oriented energy work (Mudra Anu-yoga) could enhance both your experience of meditation as well as the comfort within your body. If not, one would concisely fold the intonation of syllable’s such as the lower abdomen’s Ah, the navel’s Tram, the heart’s Hoom, the throat’s Hri, and the crown’s Om into one’s practice.
When mantra intonation is blended with the above technique of “this” and “ease” it could benefit one’s body as much as one’s mind. All these techniques are dependent neither on posture nor duration.
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