Leaning Into Discomfort

We are all experiencing, collectively, a time of great change. We are dealing with the realities of living during a global pandemic, realizing we must find ways to cope with and accept a “new normal.” Our communities are simultaneously speaking out against injustice, bringing to life a movement demanding change. Both COVID-19 and community protests have impacts on us and bring up a range of emotions. It’s extremely valuable to dig into these emotions and experiences right now. Ignoring or avoiding your feelings might help you avoid discomfort in the short term, but will keep you from healing, processing, and growing during this challenging time. 

Suggestions for leaning into discomfort:

• Before we can do anything with an emotion, we must acknowledge it. Really take some time and space to figure out what you’re feeling. Where is it showing up in your body? Maybe your stomach is churning or you notice tension in your shoulders or jaw. Try to describe the discomfort in detail, and give a name to the emotions you’re experiencing. 

• Start to observe your thinking. Ask yourself questions and truly listen for your honest answers. “Why am I feeling uncomfortable?” “Am I afraid of something, and what is it?” “How am I impacted by seeing racial disparities, looting, violence, and peaceful protests?” “Am I seeing the situation in a polarized way--one side good and the other side bad?” “Do I feel defensive when others question my perspective or position of privilege?” “What action am I called to do, and is anything holding me back?”

• Seek out resources to educate yourself on ways to support others. Often we are uncomfortable with things we don’t understand. We can learn about ourselves and others through reading, watching videos, asking questions, and listening to the lived experiences of people around us. Sometimes, the task is to admit that we don’t fully understand, yet we will do our best to still support others. 

• Tune into your values. Our values can serve as a road map for how we show up each day to our own lives and for each other. Reflect on what’s most important to you. Maybe you value family and want to focus on strengthening relationships. This could include talking with loved ones about the current challenges we face as a society. Maybe contributing to your community is important, and you want to explore ways to do this. If you value speaking up and using your voice, maybe you focus on having conversations about this moment in time with people who hold different views from yourself. When our values drive our actions, we have more momentum to push through discomfort because we have a clear end goal. 

• Remember to take care of yourself. When we step into uncomfortable places, we often push ourselves to grow. However, we don’t want to push ourselves to the point of burnout. Therefore, we must always strive for a balance of going out to our growth edge, sitting with the discomfort, and coming back to ourselves through self care. Sometimes we need to allow ourselves a break to rest and rejuvenate. 

Stress and Digestion

How do you typically react to a stressful event? Think back to something recently that made you anxious, worried, overwhelmed, or stressed out. If you go back to this specific memory, did you notice your heart beating more quickly? Did you become hot, sweaty, or flushed? The situation was likely uncomfortable, so did you have urges to suppress or avoid your emotions? Even after the event, did you still have lingering stressful thoughts or reactions? 

Unless you’re an extremely zen, perfectly peaceful person who spends your days meditating, you’re likely under a high amount of stress right now. Even our zen, mindful people experience stress, especially with the constant uncertainty and confusion about the state of our world. Although stress is common and normal right now, we must take steps to respond to it, move through it, and heal ourselves. Unaddressed stress can wreak havoc on our bodies, especially our digestive system. 

When we experience a stressful situation, our adrenal glands release cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. Cortisol makes our blood vessels function irregularly, adrenaline speeds up our heart beat and blood pressure, and bursts of norepinephrine are linked to panic attacks, hyperactivity, and increases in blood pressure. Problematic amounts of these three hormones can increase our chances of heart attack or stroke, while also affecting our digestion. You’ve likely heard about the brain-gut connection, which essentially is our understanding of how our brain communicates with a system of nerves that exist in the lining of our gut (our Enteric Nervous System or “second brain”). When our brain releases stress hormones, our digestion becomes disturbed, and we experience higher sensitivity to acid. Stress can also potentially cause digestive issues by altering the bacteria in our gut. This explains why we are more likely to experience heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, and nausea during stressful times.   

The good news is that we can be proactive about responding to stress. We can first observe how we’re feeling, what our mind is doing, and start to slow down our reactions. Once we acknowledge we are experiencing stress, we can take deep breaths and find ways to move through it. When we notice ourselves feeling stuck in worries, we can shift our focus toward something that will help us feel more calm and in control. 

Ideas for Reducing Stress

-Reconnecting with the body. Reconnecting with the body is a great way to get grounded and check-in with ourselves. This can be done through a body scan, gentle yoga movements, breathing practices, dancing, exercise, and other activities that help you get in touch with your physical presence. By focusing on the body, this often helps shift our attention away from ruminative thoughts. 

-Processing our emotions. Processing our emotions can also be a great place to start tackling stress. Sometimes, we need to take a few minutes to figure out what we’re thinking and feeling. This can be done through journaling, meditating, talking with a close friend/loved one/therapist, or whatever practices help you listen to your mind and soul with curiosity. 

We are here for you! Please reach out to any of our healers for specific ideas on tackling your stress. 

References

How Stress Changes the Brain and Body. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/how-stress-changes-the-brain-and-body/

RAIN Meditation

Are you finding it challenging to accept the present moment? As we drift deeper into this new normal, it’s quite difficult to not get stuck in judgments about our situation, others, and even ourselves. When we feel frustrated, anxious, uncertain, and disappointed about the realities we face, it can be tempting to turn inward and criticize our emotional responses and reactions. Being hard on ourselves is a common manifestation of experiencing painful emotions, but often gets us stuck in negative feelings. What would it mean to experience a painful reality while giving yourself compassion and acceptance? Loving ourselves, especially when we are truly upset about internal and external factors, is a challenging task. To help us explore ideas of acceptance and self-compassion, we can turn to Tara Brach’s RAIN meditation. 

RAIN stands for:

Recognize what is going on 

Allow the experience to be there, just as it is

Investigate with curiosity

Nurture with loving kindness

What follows is a basic guide for practicing RAIN meditation. This will give you an understanding of what to consider within each letter. Additionally, you may want to watch the video at the end of this blog post, in which Tara Brach leads the listener through the RAIN meditation. 

R: Think about and imagine a situation that brings up painful emotions, thoughts, and sensations. This could be a difficult conversation, an unfair reality you face, or something that’s making you feel stuck. Bring your attention to what’s coming up for you. Try to take a curious stance on your emotions, body sensations, thoughts, urges, etc. Just notice and describe your experience. 

A: Without trying to avoid, suppress, or change your experience, experiment with ways to let it be. This might be possible with a mantra like “It is what it is.”

I: Investigate your experience with the purpose of digging deeper into the meaning that exists. Ask yourself questions like “What about this is most painful?” “Which emotions am I experiencing?” “Does this situation remind me of something from the past/bring up similar experiences?” “What sensations are arising in me?” and “What about this makes me feel most vulnerable?”

N: What message do you need to hear most right now? Amidst this challenging situation, you are doing your best. Visualize giving yourself a hug or comforting yourself with genuine care and compassion. Imagine love encompassing you. 

References

Practice the RAIN Meditation with Tara Brach (2019). Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/investigate-anxiety-with-tara-brachs-rain-practice/