Embracing Pain

I've had the occasion recently to re-visit through experience the subject of Pain. I've observed that many of us in the energy healing field most often come into the field in search of a resolution to our own pain. We inevitably conclude at some point that while pain, like death, is part of life, it need not be feared or avoided. And that seems to be the explanation of and the resolution to the problem of pain.

I had decided to delve back into Pilates a few weeks ago in order to enhance my yoga practice. It had helped me before (about 10 years ago), so I was hoping for similar results this time. I was not wrong. But, "results" have changed their context since 10 years ago.

Now this is one-on-one Pilates as opposed to a class, so you get the full attention of the Pilates practitioner who then customizes a routine for your particular "situation." Well, my situation includes various misalignments of the pelvis, shortening of the hamstrings, and limited range of motion in my hips and shoulders. Pretty much everything you'd expect from someone who spends a lot of time in front of the computer.

After each session, I'd spend the next four days dealing with stiff, achey muscles and sore joints, way out of proportion, it would seem, to what we were actually doing in the session. This really perplexed me. I began in earnest dosing myself with homeopathics--arnica, rhus tox, ruta gravelens; taking extra magnesium, PureZyme, and of course, liberal use of E-3 Energy Cream. All of these helped and allowed me to avoid the pain becoming debilitating, but they weren't getting me any closer to resolving what this particular set of pain was.

Life seems to be a series of lessons, and reminders about lessons. As you get older, it's more about reminders than the lessons themselves. And this little romp through pain was one of those reminders: Pain is not so much about what is "wrong" but more about what could be "right"--or, better said, pain is about potentials. We all have a "preferred" way to feel, and it pretty much always does NOT include pain. This is an unrealistic expectation, first of all, but mainly it sets you up for a fight. No fight, especially with yourself, is ever going to result in a "winner," so fighting, resisting, ignoring, and all the other lame strategies we employ against something we don't like or want cuts us off from the value of the experience.

Pain teaches us to accept. It teaches us to be patient with process. It teaches us to appreciate the range of experience that is life. And, perhaps most importantly, it teaches us to "embrace with a smile" adversity. Because in the final analysis don't we always come out of adversity "better for it" in one way or another?

Pain is a forge, an invasion of your comfort level that makes you strive for something greater, reach for a new level, or state, and kicks your butt to evolve. Pain requires respect and honor, because if you do not respect or honor your pain, it isn't good for anything.

The irony is that when you accept and honor your pain, it transforms into a greater awareness of its opposite. It resolves into greater range, greater humility, greater compassion, and greater appreciation of the miracle of life. Observe pain in all its glory, observe the body's reactions, observe emotional responses, observe how it so effectively conjures fears. Then, let it be. Let it transform you. Let it be the reason for a greater future self. Let pain be a welcomed agent to a new world.

As I processed through in this way, I got flashes of the pain of my ancestors--past life pictures, and visions of events from people I don't even know. And as this continued, I saw how I was changing, and how I was beginning to embody the resolution of the pain, and how the transformation to a new self was unfolding.

Modern Western culture trains us away from "just being" into "just doing". It also trains us to identify with our bodies and our identity in society. Both of these trainings block the ability to accept and honor pain, in the same way Western society does not accept or honor death. To accept and honor our pain requires us to: 1) Be with the pain without reaction or judgment, and 2) Observe and allow what the pain is doing; what it is communicating. This takes focus, and with practice, it is every bit as good as aspirin, but with many more far-reaching beneficial effects.

In vibrant health,