Pain: How we feel vs.how we feel about it

When my son Daniel was younger he didn't feel pain in a typical way. I don't know if he didn't feel it, or if he simply processed it differently. I once watched him fall and hit his head on the bricks in front of the fireplace. He got a curious look on his face and repeated the action, lightly touching his head to the brick. He responded to pain with curiosity...not anger, not fear, not betrayal. He is now a much more typical kid, but I appreciate the insight he gave me to other options we have when we feel pain.

We feel pain and then we feel how we feel about the pain. We attach a meaning to it. "Pain is bad", "It's never going to heal", "I'm such a loser!" Instead of other possible responses like..."Hmmm, curious. I wonder why that happened now. Maybe this pain will help me in some way." Sometimes the stress we feel that makes us tighten our muscles around pain actually causes more pain than the initial injury. What if we could let it go? Relax it. Become curious about it.

Pain is good. It keeps us safe. It keeps us alive. It shows us what we need to pay attention to. Pain can be one of our greatest teachers. It has the potential to guide us to great understanding.

Standing Still...In Body and Life

The act of standing still is actually a constant series of falling and catching yourself. Trying to stand perfectly still is a futile attempt and takes a tremendous amount of energy. We could let go and allow the inevitable movements to flow, accepting that there is no stillness, only movement.