Discomfort, Pain & Stress
- Eric Cooley
- Mar 10, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: May 22, 2023
“There is something wonderfully bold and liberating about saying yes to our entire imperfect and messy life.” – Tara Brach
“Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” ~ James Baraz
Theory
Discomfort, pain, & stress(DPS) are more than just physical sensations felt throughout the body. More often than not our experience of these unpleasant sensations are heavily influenced by thoughts and emotions which further amplifies the intensity and duration of the suffering . Mindfulness may be used to change one’s relationship to (DPS) either by decreasing the subjective experience of the unpleasant stimulus or by increasing your tolerance to (DPS).
Shinzen Young in his book, “Natural Pain Relief”, provides a mathematical equation illustrating this concept.
Suffering = Stimulus (Discomfort, Pain, or Stress) x Resistance
For example consider someone with slight pain at a level 1 who resists the unpleasant stimulus at a level 10, the person will experience suffering that equates to a 10. Now consider someone with chronic pain at a level 10 but they resist the pain at a level 1 that person’s suffering will equally equate to a 10. But what happens when someone doesn’t have any resistance or their resistance is at a level 0. As we have learned in basic math anything multiplied by 0 equals 0 or no suffering at all. Play with the equation. Plug and substitute different numerical values in the variables to gain insight on how you may be exponentially increasing or possibly decrease the amount of suffering in your life. Try to always keep in the back of your Mind the old wise saying, “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional”.
Practice
Begin with Mindfulness of Breath Meditation. Once you feel “settled”, let the focus of attention move from feeling the breath to any physical sensations of discomfort or pain.
Focus attention on the painful or uncomfortable physical sensations.
When attention moves into emotions or thinking, bring attention back to the physical sensations.
Notice the specific location(s) of the physical sensations.
Notice the specific contour(s) or shape(s) of the physical sensations.
Notice if the sensations are stable or changing.
Find the central location of the sensations. Notice sensations just a bit to the right or left, above or below that central location. After awhile, notice sensations just a bit to the right or left, above or below of those sensations. Continue noticing sensations further and further away from the center. Notice if you observe any type of resistance to the (DPS) and if so is it possible to make a subtle mental shift of moving towards acceptance to let go of any resistance.