As part of our #MeditationHacks series, Buddhist teacher Mushim Patricia Ikeda suggest alternatives when meditation becomes too painful.
Photo by Afif Kusuma.
As I get older, I feel more pain when I sit. It’s in my knees, in my back, and even in my jaw, which ends up clenched from sitting through the other pains. I’m getting discouraged.
Mushim Patricia Ikeda: I’m sorry to hear about the increased pain and discouragement you’re experiencing during sitting meditation practice. It might be helpful for you to reflect on and share more about norms, assumptions, expectations, and perhaps archetypes that you’ve internalized as a result of how you’ve been trained and the environments in which you’ve practiced.
My experience is that many Vipassana teachers in the U.S. emphasize that both physical and mental ease (which is not equivalent to being totally pain-free) are important in meditation practice as an antidote to overstriving. On the other hand, some lineages of Zen emulate a warrior archetype in which “more pain, more gain” and transforming pain through concentration are upheld as part of the path to awakening. Just knowing that there is a diversity of Buddhist meditation techniques and attitudes toward pain during sitting meditation might offer you some additional choices to investigate and explore.
I’m sorry to hear about the increased pain and discouragement you’re experiencing during sitting meditation practice.
It also might help for you to remember that, prior to his enlightenment, Sakyamuni Buddha almost starved himself to death, didn’t bathe, and gave ascetic practices his all. This did not work. Only after he accepted some nourishing rice pudding, bathed in the river, and put on some nice clean clothes was he in good enough shape to attain awakening. In artistic depictions of the Buddha, he’s pretty much a hot mess before the Great Enlightenment. After it, he looks radiant, serene, and at ease. My advice to you would be to find a really good bodyworker and take some restorative yoga classes, in order to connect with how it feels to be deeply relaxed, rested, and alert in the body.
Read more from our #MeditationHacks series…
Feeling Unworthy?
Author and psychoanalyst, Pilar Jennings, offers advice to a practitioner who continues to feel unworthy and unloved.
Other Ways to Practice?
Vipassana teacher Konda Mason answers the question: “Is it OK if I find other ways to be meditative besides sitting on a cushion following my breath?”
Sleepy Mind, Monkey Mind?
Anita Feng, teacher for the Blue Heron Zen Community in Seattle, helps a practitioner navigate the path between drowsiness and daydreaming.
Not Enlightened Yet?
Author and musician Miguel Chen comforts a practitioner who doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to enlightenment.
Is Meditation Painful?
Buddhist teacher Mushim Patricia Ikeda suggest alternatives when meditation becomes too painful.
Don’t Like Meditating?
Lila Kate Wheeler, author and trainer at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, answers what to do if you don’t like to meditate.
Practicing for Myself?
A Mahayana Buddhist who is encouraged to practice for the benefit of all sentient being feels like they are only practicing for their own benefit. Venerable Thubten Chodron answers.
Buddhist Traditions: Which Way to Go?
Rev. angel Kyodo williams, founder of the Center for Transformative Change, advises on what to do when confronted with too many choices.
Meditation Leading to an Unstable Mind?
Josh Bartok, a Zen teacher, suggest what to do if meditating leads to an unstable mind.
Still a Schmuck?
A reader asks Sylvia Boorstein: “What’s the point of practice if it’s not making me a better person?”
Your Partner Disapproves?
A new meditator’s spouse disapproves of their newfound practice. Susan Piver, founder of The Open Heart Project, answers.
Overwhelmed by Emotions?
Author and lay Zen teacher Susan Moon is asked: “Should I stop meditating when emotions begin to overwhelm me?”
Practicing on Your Own?
An isolated practitioner asks dharma teacher Mitchell Ratner where to look for community.
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