Emotional pain in chakra meditation

I am responding to a question from a listener who experienced emotional pain while using the Chakra Meditation.  Here is his email:

I was today listening to the Chakra meditation podcast, but felt it was necesarry to turn it off at the Heart Chakra. I found that I became overwhelmed by a feeling of great emotional pain in my heart... I thought I would e-mail you to see if you knew what might be causing this, and how to find the solution.

It's not unusual to become more aware of our emotions during meditation, and even to have strong emotions or emotional pain come up.  I will write about that in general in another post (or talk about it in another podcast), but for now I'll talk specifically about having this happen during the Chakra Meditation.

During the chakra meditation, we put our attention on the various chakras.  The chakras, or energy centers of the body, are like doorways to different aspects of ourselves.  They process the energy for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual functioning.  When we put our attention on a chakra, we become more aware of what is going on in the part of our life that the chakra represents.  Not only do we become more aware, but the energy in the chakra is enlivened by our attention.  

Our attention is a beam of energy and intelligence and, like a laser beam, it affects whatever it is directed toward.  With your awareness on your heart chakra, you may get in touch with something going on in your heart area.  It's like shining a light into a dark room -- what has been hidden becomes revealed.

In this case, you felt great emotional pain.  This could be pain associated with something going on in your life now that you've been ignoring, or it could be some pain "releasing" from the past.  The heart chakra has to do with our relationships and connections with others.  If there has been some loss or hurt in relationships, it is felt in the heart area.  The loss or hurt could even be associated with things and events, such as moving or losing a job.  If the feeling of hurt (or perhaps grief) isn't fully "processed", the energy of the feeling gets "stuck" in the heart chakra.  When we put our attention on the heart chakra, we may feel what is waiting there to be processed.  It's the job of the heart chakra to process certain emotions, and when we relax in meditation and allow our attention to go there, the heart chakra gains the energy to do its job.  While no one likes to experience emotional pain, it is a part of healing and recovering from an emotional trauma. 

Very often we have grief that hasn't been fully resolved in our lives.  Some cultures are better than others in supporting people through grief.  In many of our Western cultures, we've learned to suppress grief.  But our mind and body will always move toward greater balance and emotional well-being given the opportunity.  While meditating, things that have been under the surface can come up to be felt.

When something comes up that makes you feel too uncomfortable, you can always do what you did and stop the meditation.  It would be good if that happens to lie down and rest a bit to let things settle down. There are some other ways of dealing with strong emotions as well, and for something like this an experienced meditation guide could help.  The advice the guide would give would depend on some one-on-one exchange with you.  

After responding to the person who asked this question, he emailed back that indeed he had recently experienced a sort of emotional trauma and had been feeling quite numb until listening to the meditation. Based on that, I also want to add that it is quite normal to feel numb after a traumatic event like the death of a loved one, breakup of a relationship and any other intense loss or change.  It's a healthy response of the body and psyche to protect itself from overload and allow us to continue functioning.  Usually that phase passes and we begin to feel our emotional reactions.  Sometimes, however, those reactions are buried and may surface again after a long period of time.  It's not always possible to know where a strong emotion in meditation is coming from -- it could be an emotion from a recent event or left over from something long ago.  In any case, part of healing is experiencing that emotion and meditation can sometimes facilitate that.  

Usually an emotional release will in meditation will not take too long to resolve and won't cause undue discomfort.  Occasionally, however, meditation can open us up to some feelings that are so difficult for us that we would benefit from help from a trained counselor or therapist.  Be kind to yourself and get support if needed.

Trust Guided Meditation Podcast

Our latest podcast episode is about trust in life and trust in oneself.  It's about a very fundamental kind of trust.  It doesn't have to do with trusting people or things, but with a basic sense that everything is all right just as it is in each moment.  Most importantly, it has to do with the sense that we are alright, just as we are.  This trust allows us to relax into the flow of life and living, rather than resisting what is happening. We can learn this kind of trust in meditation as we learn to relax into whatever comes up in our experience.  You may notice that at times you resist what is happening.  You may feel your mind shouldn't be filled with thoughts, and a resistance comes up.  Or you might try to push out a particular emotion.  You may also find there are times when you try to be a certain way.  Often people feel that since they are meditating, they should feel peaceful.  There can be an attempt to try to feel peaceful.  A kind of struggle comes up, a struggle with ourselves and with life.  This struggle comes from a lack of trust.

Everything that we experience is an expression of the natural flow of life.  The energy of life flows as thoughts, emotions, sensations in the body, sounds around us.  As we meditate, we can learn to let that flow happen without interference.  We can develop a basic sense of trust in life as we learn to trust what happens within ourselves.

You already know how to meditate!

I just received an email from a woman who said:  "Most importantly, your guidance also helped me recognize that I already knew how to meditate, but that I just thought of it as 'being still' or 'paying attention.' "  Eureka -- that's it!  When we experience a meditative state during meditation, we tend to think it's something special that happens only in meditation.  In fact, it's something we all experience from time to time outside of meditation, but don't notice.  We could actually think of it as the mind's "natural state".  It's a very simple form of awareness, uncomplicated by the mind's habits of judging and comparing.  It's a state that's there when we are neither resisting or trying to change what is naturally coming up in our experience.  It's a state of "simply being".

Much of the time, we are "simply being" but don't make note of that, because the mind isn't in the mode of standing apart and observing our experience at that time.  Sometimes, however, we'll notice a dramatic shift into the simply-being-mode.  As I mentioned in the previous post, meditation often happens spontaneously when something we see or hear or touch jars us out of the preoccupation with the past and future.  The sight of a hummingbird at my feeder always does it for me.  What does it for you?

Watching-a-fountain-meditation

While I was recording my latest podcast episode, I found my attention drawn to a fountain outside my window.  A fairly large fountain, it's water shoots several feet straight up.  It captivated me with its grace and beauty and as I was talking, I found myself being drawn into a meditative state.  That experience got spontaneously incorporated into what I was talking about and became an example of two ways of meditating -- one is "contemplation" and the other is what I'll call, for want of a better word, "diving". Had I wanted to stop recording, I could have used the experience of watching the fountain in a number of ways to meditate.  If I were to use it for contemplation, I would have found meaning in the way the water moved, the shapes the water takes, the whole phenomenon of the existence of the fountain.  I could have thought about how the fountain was a reflection of life or how it mirrored my emotions and inner world.  I could have found all sorts of meanings in the patterns of the water.  Contemplation involves the exploration of meaning.  Traditional contemplative practices might start with a brief reading followed by time spent exploring the meaning.  

The other type of meditation, the one which I was drawn into, doesn't involve meaning.  Rather than thinking about the fountain and what it might symbolize and mean, I was simply watching the movement and patterns of the water.  In such a meditation,  meaning is left behind.  The object of attention is viewed without meaning.  Meaning keeps the mind actively engaged and when we let go of meaning, the mind can "detach" and go within.  This allows for a deeply restful and rejuvenating experience. 

Meditation always involves a shift in attention.  When we meditate, we use our attention in specific ways to achieve specific effects.  In this case the focus of attention was the fountain, and I could have used that focus in a number of different ways.  Another effect of watching the fountain, or anything in nature, in this way is that you take in the qualities of what you see.  Everything we see, hear, touch, taste or smell has an effect.  It's as if our nervous system is a complex tuning fork that resonates in different ways depending on where we put our attention.  Allowing in the impressions of the patterns of nature realigns us with our own life force.  As I remember the experience with the fountain now, I can feel the energy and vitality of life as it is expressed in flowing water.

Spontaneous meditations happen all of the time.  Usually we're in too much of a rush to take advantage of these moments.  The next time you step outside and the sound of a bird, sight of a flower or light of the moon captivates you, pause for a bit to drink in the experience.  Notice those times during the day when your attention naturally shifts in a way that is nourishing and brings peace.  It could be something as simple as a smile from a co-worker or an image on the web.  Take advantage of those shifts by slowing down a bit and giving yourself time to sink into them.    

Connecting with nature.

I've heard from a number of people about how much they've enjoyed the Nature Attunement Meditation. After hearing the meditation, freelance writer Amanda Wegner interviewed me for an article she is writing. It's about how adults can examine their relationship with nature and reconnect with and better appreciate the great outdoors, whether it’s a national forest, city park or their own back yard.

I really enjoyed this interview and wanted to share it with you. You can read the interview below. (Excerpts from the interview will be published in the summer 2008 issue of Successful Living magazine.)

Amanda: What benefits does nature bring to our lives? Why is an appreciation (or, more basically, a recognition) of nature important?

Mary: We speak of nature as if it is something separate from ourselves. Your ask "what benefits does nature bring to our lives", and I often find myself saying "I love to be out in nature." It's interesting that we speak this way when we ourselves are part of nature. The same life force that moves the planets around the sun circulates our blood through our veins, and yet because of the way we experience ourselves as separate from each other and life, we lose touch with our essential nature. When we spend time outdoors and experience the sights, smells and sounds of the natural world, we are awakened to ourselves. Nature is like a mirror in which we see our own reflection and remember who we are. Spending time in nature attunes us to our own life force and rhythms. It helps us to feel more alive.

Amanda: Obviously, some people are much more in tune with nature than others. Do you think it’s important for people to examine their attitudes toward nature? How might one go about this? What questions should they ask of themselves?

Mary: It can be valuable for people to explore their relationship with nature, as well as their attitudes. As we become more intimate with nature, we become more intimate with ourselves. I feel that as we feel our connection with the earth more strongly, we naturally take better care of the earth. There's no difference between caring for the earth and caring for ourselves. It's all the same thing. We're not separate!

One way to explore ones feelings about nature is to spend time outdoors. See what happens when you are in a natural setting. Be aware of how you feel. Let yourself connect with things more than you have been. Listen carefully to the sounds, with you full attention. Notice the smells. Let yourself drink in the sights. Notice how these experiences affect you. You can also try bringing more of nature into your home. Have some plants and form a relationship with them. Find out what makes them happy and helps them to thrive.

As far as questions, you might ask yourself how important nature is to you, and why. Examine your habits about recycling, and if you garden, how you go about it. Do you recycle because it's "in"? Do you recycle out of guilt? Or do you find your actions motivated by a sense of love for this amazing planet we live on? Watch a bee nestling into a flower and see how you feel about that experience. Observe things closely, noticing how you feel, and ask yourself if it reminds you of how you feel in other parts of your life. You may start to notice that a bird's song is your own voice speaking its sorrows and joys.

The Nature Attunement Meditation is a great way for people to connect (or reconnect) to nature. For someone who uses meditation, what might be some other ways (if they don’t have an iPod handy) to meditate in nature?

Listen and observe carefully with your full attention. If you've been listening to the meditations in our podcasts or CDs, you can treat your experience in nature the same way you treat the experience in meditation. Let the sights and sounds of nature be the focus of your meditation. Don't strain on it, but if you find yourself getting "into your head" and caught up in your thoughts, gently bring your attention back to nature. Even though all sorts of thoughts and feelings may be going on, you can "favor" the experience of nature and notice how that makes you feel. As you observe nature, let go of the tendency to label and name things, simply experience them directly. You can close your eyes and listen to the sounds of the birds or a running brook. Anything can be a focus for your meditation.

For someone who isn’t “into” meditation, what other suggestions might you offer to even the most urban people to get out and enjoy their natural environment? How can people better “tune in” to their natural surroundings?

I've already spoken about ways to "tune in" to natural surroundings. Even in an urban environment, you can find something natural. There's always the sun to feel and the sky. Clouds are a great focus of meditation. Sit down on a patch of grass somewhere. Feel the grass and earth with your hands. You can also bring nature indoors. Create a natural sanctuary on a patio or balcony, or even inside your home. Plants, small trees are an easy way to start. Construct a fountain with stones you find. Listen to the water in the fountain. Visit the beach or a forest and bring some of it home with you. Grow some bulbs indoors. There is always a way to connect. And when all else fails, you always have your breath. Attending to the flow of your breath brings you in tune with the natural rhythms of life!