Meeting Pain

Meeting our pain can be one of the hardest aspects of practicing mindfulness and meditation. Not only are we battling to withstand stress chemicals being released in our bodies. But we feel impulses to react to situations around us based on the strong emotions we feel.

We don’t have full access to the frontal lobe of our brains which is responsible for reasoning, perspective and rationalization, basically the qualities that make us civilized human beings. So how do we embrace these emotions without simply tolerating these them and trying our best not to meltdown? I find that meeting our emotions is helpful. Let’s face it fear is fear guilt is guilt, we can’t change the sting or depth of some of these emotions. But by meeting them we can avoid becoming to overwhelmed by them.

I have always assumed that by being mindful of strong negative emotions I would in some way dilute there potency. but I’m finding that’s not the case for me. I still get overwhelmed when the world feels likes its closing in on me as my fear paralyzes my perspective. By moving towards strong emotion we say ok to the emotion. We muster up the courage and look at it with a willingness. So does it make everything better.

Not necessarily but resisting strong emotions make the sensations feel like tornadoes rather than storms. For me reconciling my emotions is a constant work in progress. I have good days and bad days. Some times I stand and move towards and sometimes i run for the hills.