By Annette Bray
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05 Aug, 2024
Pain in the body and emotional experience, is most often experienced as an unwanted guest. It gets in the way of our goals and plans, and we put up resistance to feeling it on almost any level. It makes sense that we have this reaction, because after all, the pain signaling in your body is a warning that you are headed towards some level of physical harm. This often is the same patterned response to emotional discomfort…and it mirrors the physical every time. In a moment of crisis (imminent danger), ideally, you don’t feel it, so you don’t overwhelm your being. But in instances of chronic discomfort and pain, the more we push back at the experience presented to us, the more we solidify the pattern. Life presents consistent highs and lows in health, relationships and your quest for purpose. The more you put up resistance to feeling the lows…and the highs, the greater the gap will grow between happiness and perceived hardship. This is why discomfort can be of great benefit. It’s a gentle metric that brings awareness to the misalignments inherent in each person when we are not truly present in each moment. This week I had many moments to experience this discomfort when we were among the thousands of people evacuated due to the Colorado fires in the Front Range. It was uncomfortable to be presented with the very eminent possibility that our home could be dramatically altered by nature’s powerful forces. But ultimately, we had limited control over whether or not that would happen. So, I spent some time feeling what it would be like to lose something very dear and how would I see the future after that. It wasn’t figuring out anything, it was simply vacillating between fear and the knowing that inner strength is ultimately greater than any external possession. On this journey, we’re not aiming to bring discomfort by any means, we’re simply learning what it means to be in the moment and not resist it when it shows up. Resistance always begets more resistance. So, the awareness, skill and discipline to “be with” the dis-ease when it appears in your experience will be that path that allows it to transmute. Wishing you the best on this journey. I would love to hear from you if this message resonates with you. Guiding individuals on this path is what I am inspired to do most…