Week 4 Recap - “Staying Present with Pain, Difficulty, Illness & Stress”
Hi everyone,
What we learned
This week we focused on "A" in STOP ACHE GO, for "Accepting pleasant and unpleasant experiences as they are."
As we discussed in the group, pain and stress affect us all. When we outlined on the diagrams where we experience stress in our bodies, we noted commonalities in how it manifests, how it can appear anywhere in the body, yet also how differently it can appear for different people. Some important notes to remember:
Pain and stress carry many different qualities: density, movement, intensity, tone, location.
When we take a step back and stop resisting or ignoring the pain, and instead simply observe the pain for what it is, it will begin to shift. This shift may be tiny, but it still counts as change. Sometimes, the pain may even get more intense before it diminishes, but in either case, the result is the same—No itch lasts forever.
Pain is pain; it becomes suffering when we react to the pain, wishing it will go away.
New Practices
We learned the 3 Minute Breathing Space, which is the shortest practice we've done so far. This is a great tool to carry with you throughout the day. You can apply it wherever you are! It starts out as 3 minutes but can quickly shorten to 30 seconds, or even 3 with enough practice.
We also learned a new informal practice of Mindful Walking. In this practice we take slow, deliberate steps and pay attention to the rhythm and pace of the different parts of our feet on the ground. We also notice how we experience walking in the rest of the body.
Home Practice
Formal Practice
Incorporate the Sitting Mindfulness of Breathing with the Body Scans and Mindful Movement practices. You can do any combination, as long as you aim for 30-45 minutes each day. You can find recordings on our website here: (www.chacmc.org/mtpcprogram).
Additional seated meditation recordings:
Informal Practice
Continue to do any other informal practices you wish, including Mindful Walking.
Stress barometer
Try to identify your own warning signs for stress, and see if you can become aware of moments of stress and your reactions to it during the week (for example: feeling stuck, numbing, feeling a loss of control, and shutting off).
Additional Resources
Next week, we begin to practice compassion. Until then, much warmth, and enjoy the rest of your week.
Best,
Ian and the MINDFUL-PC Team
