Interesting class. Went over a lot of the concepts that I have been studying over the last year personally. I made a contribution in the class regarding pain/mindfulness. I don't think I explained my point well enough. My thinking was that there could be a biological reason, a survival mechanism which can explain why humans "separate" mind/body.
When you're in pain - your automatic response is what? To sit there and and work through it? No! You want it to END and as quickly as possible.
Teething babies don't sit there mindfully experiencing their red, inflamed and painful gums.
Remember when your hair-brushing sessions with mom became painful? What did you do? You squirmed, you shouted, you fussed and you cried. If none of those tactics worked, yes you sat there and dealt with it but what were you really doing? Hating mom, thinking about what you'd do after. Maybe mom even encouraged you to think ahead by promising a treat if you just sat still.
Look at recounts of trauma - while the incident occurs you repeatedly hear reports of "looking down on oneself", or focusing on one element.
In massive physical trauma what does the body do? It floods your body with adrenaline and endorphins so you don't feel the pain. That's why you occasionally hear of people walking on broken legs to seek help, or people lifting cars off of someone trapped underneath.
The thinking brain, and the feeling body takes a little vacation. This is instinctual and yes, reactive. I'm not saying it's useful in all situations but it goes a long way to explaining why we "split off" in the first place. We do it because experience teaches us that it helps us to survive, in that moment.
Unfortunately, we do it in situations where it isn't helpul at all and it is, in fact, counterproductive. Emotional pain, for example, does not have the same
ramifications for survival as does physical harm. And yet, people often split off when confronted with emotional pain. By the same token, if you "split off" in the
face of chronic low-ebb pain (like arthritis) you could easily miss out on much the world has to offer. I doubt one can disocciate from bodily pain without also affecting the experience of more enjoyable sensations.
All I'm saying is that it's natural to want to escape and minimize pain. Sometimes it's automatic. Someone in class stated, "I find with mindfulness practice I'm better able to tolerate pain." That's great, but I doubt I'm alone in saying, "Why tolerate it if there's a quick and easy way to get rid of it?"
That's a key difference between a westerner's mindset and that of those from the eastern spiritual mindset. I do think we should learn how to better tolerate
pain and difficulty in our lives, wherever it's origin. We should, perhaps, look at how we value pain - it is a great teacher. From pain grows character and spirit.
But does pain Always have something to teach us? If you suffer chronic pain and you've learned how to manage it, tolerate it and live through it - what reamining
lesson does it have for you?
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