25/07/2025
Stephanie is one of my students who wrote recently,
"I notice I'm much less bothered by my chronic pain than I used to be. It still hurts. But it doesn't feel as cruel and miserable. So I can live life a bit more with it. It's not a contradiction. And when I just "Let it be there," it doesn't bother me as much. It's like the negative emotion is drained out of the pain. So, there is more room for positive emotion. More room for ... Me".
๐งโโ๏ธOne way that meditation helps is that it teaches non-reactive emotional awareness. You learn to be aware of what you're feeling without falling into it. And as a result, you notice the tension and inner negativity. And it gives you an opportunity to "let go of it".
So the unpleasant sensation might be there. But you learn to dissolve the misery that makes it worse. So you have more space to exist. And you develop greater control over your emotions.
โญFree training in mind-body skills. This coming Monday. If you want to benefit from these proven techniques you need to pre-register. Click the event below and you'll see the registration link.โฎ
๐Want some evidence?
A study in the journal Emotion in 2008 demonstrated that mindfulness training can lead to improved emotional regulation by increasing brain activity in areas associated with emotional processing (Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 8(3), 361-371.)
A recent publication made a hypothesis that there are two ways that meditation might help you to live in a more balanced and happy way.
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One is the in-the-moment experience of meditation, which often brings a greater sense of calm, clarity and comfort in the moment.
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The second is how meditation trains and changes brain function over time. Regular meditation practice appears to teach the brain to live in a more emotionally regulated place. (Raugh IM, Strauss GP. Integrating mindfulness into the extended process model of emotion regulation: The dual-mode model of mindful emotion regulation. Emotion. 2023 Oct 16.)
It seems true to me.
๐ฃI heard from one of my other students this week. After years of chronic pain and fatigue and just feeling miserable, she has been practicing in my classes for a year or two.
She initially noticed nice changes after class. Sometimes it didn't last. Now she's reporting just feeling happier. And that people around her are noticing. So nice to hear.
And my own experience resonates very much with the idea that there are immediate benefits of meditation. And also longer-term changes from regular practice.
๐ง For me, I've noticed that the "thermostat" of my mind and emotions have become more stabilized over time.
When I was practicing regularly, I used to notice this little voice in my head (or heart). I'd be driving down the road after work and it said,
"Do you need to be holding the steering wheel so tightly?". So I'd relax my hands and it felt good.
Or, "maybe you could just let the tension out of your jaw and shoulders".
It was trippy. But the voice was right-on. It was like I was turning on my inner voice of self-care and wisdom.
Over time, I learned to listen to it. And the impact has been dramatic. I'm much calmer. More clear-headed. Better sense of my own priorities. And that neck pain--gone.
That's part of why I'm so committed to sharing these techniques. ๐
Because they help people. If you're interested in having a positive impact on your well-being, they can probably help you, too.
We do basic techniques with breathing and attention to evoke the physiology of relaxation and reduce pain and anxiety. We talk about challenges in practice. And even people who are convinced they can't meditate...can.
๐The training is free, but you need to pre-register. Click the event link to get more information and sign up: https://web.facebook.com/events/616395421224640/
See you soon.
