Tension

[passenger1980]

When i meditate i seem to be able to relax my whole body except for my right arm. I always have to keep an eye for it in terms of tension, as it always gets stiff somehow. After five minutes or so that i have conciously relaxed it, it becomes tense again, like it is pushing or applying force to something.

 

It's not that hard and i don't feel any pain at all, but i bet it hinders my ability to relax more and go deeper into my meditation. I've tried different positions with not much luck.

 

Anyway, i have heard of people having tension in the jawline, shoulders, etc. Any advises?

[gendao]

Basically speaking, wherever you have muscular tension, you have an energetic blockage.

 

To dissolve it, feel it and listen closely to your body. It will tell you what the problem is. When you address and resolve that concern, your blockage and tension will release. This initial release could take just a few minutes or less. I just did this last weekend to a block I had for decades. Since your blockages are put there by your mind, they are just as easy to instantly remove.

 

But, the key is tuning in to your own body and hearing what it has to say.

[steve]

I take a very similar approach. When something is tense and attracting my attention during meditation, I'll give it my full attention. I will open myself completely to how it feels without worry, judement, comparison, or analysis - just feel it totally and perhaps offer the area a bit of compassion or gratitude. It may take time but should eventually relax.

[passenger1980]

Thanks a lot for the advises, i'll try them today, and keep them in mind in case of future tensions or distractions.

 

It's weird to me at least, that it always happens to the same arm and basically feels the same way each time. There's definitely some kind of blockage there. Maybe it has been there for months and i only started noticing it now.

[Wun Yuen Gong]

I advise a good warm up and stretching exercise to release and open up the channels so your meditation can be much easier!

 

WYG

[松永道]

There's a tradition of "emotional healers" up in Harbin that have mapped out the entire body emotionally. I have a professor working on the translation now, sadly I don't have the books (they are pretty hard to come by) so I can't give any insight.

 

However, I agree with everyone else, tuning in is the way to go. Pain in the body is a cry out to you. Most people try to muffle pain through exercise, television, even meditation to focus the mind on something else. And these approaches to give temporary relief. But the enlightened approach is to face it head on and find out why your body is crying. Mind/ego, the bully it can be, is certainly the culprit, but you've got to ask the body which of the mind's many false constructs is responsible. Despite myself I make this sound like an intellectual thing. It certainly isn't. When you tune in and eventually reconcile your tension you may or may not find out what you were doing wrong. But if you do get that insight, by all means, please share.

 

Good luck.

[Ian]

When i meditate i seem to be able to relax my whole body except for my right arm. I always have to keep an eye for it in terms of tension, as it always gets stiff somehow. After five minutes or so that i have conciously relaxed it, it becomes tense again, like it is pushing or applying force to something.

 

It's not that hard and i don't feel any pain at all, but i bet it hinders my ability to relax more and go deeper into my meditation. I've tried different positions with not much luck.

 

Anyway, i have heard of people having tension in the jawline, shoulders, etc. Any advises?

 

Different advice: Don't try. Let it be there. Stay with the softness elsewhere. Don't block it out, but don't let it take your attention. It will begin to dissolve as soon as you don't mind it at all. Might take ages: if you're right-handed every punch you didn't land and every caress you didn't make is in that shoulder.

[hagar]

I second Ian's reply.

 

As a comment, I could mention that in cases where similar tension comes up for me, I let myself be as absorbed in the tension as possible, and try to melt the area from within. It might bring up quite strong reactions, or resistance, but the important thing is to not mind the reaction, and do it lightly, suffering with grace.

 

For me tension is never the real issue, as it cloakes some underlying emotion or memory.

 

h

 

 

 

 

Different advice: Don't try. Let it be there. Stay with the softness elsewhere. Don't block it out, but don't let it take your attention. It will begin to dissolve as soon as you don't mind it at all. Might take ages: if you're right-handed every punch you didn't land and every caress you didn't make is in that shoulder.

[freeform]

Different advice: Don't try. Let it be there. Stay with the softness elsewhere. Don't block it out, but don't let it take your attention. It will begin to dissolve as soon as you don't mind it at all. Might take ages: if you're right-handed every punch you didn't land and every caress you didn't make is in that shoulder.

 

This is really interesting - especially the 'don't let it take your attention' bit. I'm guessing this is based on Sifu Yap's work?

 

There is certainly wisdom in not concentrating on the tension... If you're asked to notice any tension or blockages in your body, your mind goes into a 'transderivational search' - whereby you look for (and tend to find) not what is actually there but what should be there (tension and blockages)... "Stay with the softness elsewhere" - this also sends you on a transderivational search, but you find softness instead...

 

This is kind of what I do when meditating - more specifically I tend to notice both any tensions/uncomfortableness and softness/comfort - but I never go 'into' either of them... kind of like using your peripheral vision - you keep both the far left and the far right in your awareness, but you never focus on either one of them exclusively because this results in the loss of this expanded peripheral vision.

 

Is that close? I find that what this 'peripheral awareness' does is balance. I go into a very receptive state - there is no transderivational search going on, but rather a passive observation of 'what is'.

 

However, when I work on a specific issue, I do something quite different (and it often ends in this expanded 'peripheral awareness' naturally)

 

I'll describe what I do in these cases if anyone's interested, but I first want to find out whether I'm understanding Ian correctly.

[passenger1980]

This is really interesting - especially the 'don't let it take your attention' bit. I'm guessing this is based on Sifu Yap's work?

 

There is certainly wisdom in not concentrating on the tension... If you're asked to notice any tension or blockages in your body, your mind goes into a 'transderivational search' - whereby you look for (and tend to find) not what is actually there but what should be there (tension and blockages)... "Stay with the softness elsewhere" - this also sends you on a transderivational search, but you find softness instead...

 

This is kind of what I do when meditating - more specifically I tend to notice both any tensions/uncomfortableness and softness/comfort - but I never go 'into' either of them... kind of like using your peripheral vision - you keep both the far left and the far right in your awareness, but you never focus on either one of them exclusively because this results in the loss of this expanded peripheral vision.

 

Is that close? I find that what this 'peripheral awareness' does is balance. I go into a very receptive state - there is no transderivational search going on, but rather a passive observation of 'what is'.

 

However, when I work on a specific issue, I do something quite different (and it often ends in this expanded 'peripheral awareness' naturally)

 

I'll describe what I do in these cases if anyone's interested, but I first want to find out whether I'm understanding Ian correctly.

 

I've tried the give attention/understanding method yesterday i can say it really helped me so far, in one session only. After a while it started to bother me less and less, and with less intensity, although the tension was still there at times, in the muscles behind my arm (i'm a lefty, and the tension is in my right arm).

 

The problem with the not giving attention method mentioned by freeform, is that is similar to what i did before. Sadly, for me, i ended up with the tension rising, making me loose focus, and actually forcing me to conciously relax it. However, it's very interesting too, perhaps a mix of both techniques can do wonders!

[freeform]

The problem with the not giving attention method mentioned by freeform,

 

Just to clarify - I wasn't suggest not giving attention to it. I was talking more about the spread or focus of attention - so rather than focusing your entire attention on the one specific blockage, I was suggesting spreading the focus to encompass that blockage, any other blockage, any openness, any softness etc - basically everything all together but not anything specific or separate from 'everything all together'.

 

Whatever tension you have in your body there is always an equivalent amount of softness - so I suggest not focusing on the softness and not focusing on the tension but on both together at the same time - this creates a space for alchemy/yuan chi or spontaneous transformation...

 

(* rather I wasn't suggesting this but that's what I understood Ian to be suggesting, and just wanted to clarify.)

 

To deal with specific issues I tend to focus my awareness in specific ways - similar to how you and others have described it on this thread, but just wanted to clarify Ian's perspective, as I've not seen it much anywhere else...

 

This is all to do with very fundamental stuff... I'm hoping Karen might be able to shed some light here too...

[松永道]

In vipassana meditation, the Buddha's meditation which is all about awareness of things as they are, they tell you to explore the tension in depth. To feel ever nuance of its texture and develop a very clear sensory image of whats going on. By bringing awareness to it, you change it, and so you also try to sense it completely as possible in its changing state. A moving image. If you can stay concentrated, clear, and unattached you will get to the root and resolve the issue.

 

The problem is, if you get attached to getting rid of it, that's a form of resistance that just ends of feeding it or tension in another area of the body. So they recommend moving on every five minutes or so. Feel other parts of your body. The nice flowing areas. Explore through the whole sensory field and then return to give the tension another round.

 

Sometimes getting deep into it is the right medicine and sometimes, as Ian suggests, you got to go elsewhere.

 

Don't you love yin and yang? The answer is always both!

[Ian]

Just to clarify - I wasn't suggest not giving attention to it. I was talking more about the spread or focus of attention - so rather than focusing your entire attention on the one specific blockage, I was suggesting spreading the focus to encompass that blockage, any other blockage, any openness, any softness etc - basically everything all together but not anything specific or separate from 'everything all together'.

 

(* rather I wasn't suggesting this but that's what I understood Ian to be suggesting, and just wanted to clarify.)

 

To deal with specific issues I tend to focus my awareness in specific ways - similar to how you and others have described it on this thread, but just wanted to clarify Ian's perspective, as I've not seen it much anywhere else...

 

Yes, exactly, I'm advocating just being present with the whole picture. But doing so causes ones stuff to arise. So one needs to repeatedly interrupt the learned tendency to zoom straight for the pain/thought/emotion/tension, hence "stay with the softness".

 

The ideal is not focussing at all, as focussing implies direction, which is itself a form of tension.

 

But it's always an approximation, as the ideal, doing nothing and being present, isn't possible yet. But one can interrupt what one does instead with ever increasing gentleness. The interruption usually has a downward emphasis as well, at least for beginners, of feeling your feet or your bum, as we are usually, literally, way out above our heads and need to be pulled back in.

 

And yes, Sifu Yap. Any foolishness or incomprehensibility entirely mine.

[freeform]

Yes, exactly, I'm advocating just being present with the whole picture. But doing so causes ones stuff to arise. So one needs to repeatedly interrupt the learned tendency to zoom straight for the pain/thought/emotion/tension, hence "stay with the softness".

 

So do you never work on specific issues?

 

I think that 'being present with the whole picture' is what I do in meditation - and of course things do, indeed, come up. Mostly it's mind-based diversions. The mind is scared of the lack of control, so it throws up all kinds of thoughts/ideas/conversations etc.

 

However - sometimes something more fundamental gently calls for attention (of course it's not easy to differentiate what's mind-stuff and what's a genuine call for attention from a more fundamental part of you, but I find that there is a distinctly different feel to it - more emotional/energetic/fluid/kinasthetic - you cant put your finger on it or express it in words - in me, this usually means a suppressed aspect is calling for attention.)

 

In this case I do something very different. I give it some attention. My intention is to become aware of it - not to change it, heal it, transform it or whatever. I often say 'hello' (usually not in words) and just sit with it without any intention - sometimes the issue welcomes this attention, sometimes it gets frightened off. Hard to explain, but it's like an invitation for that suppressed aspect to step into the light of awareness... each time it's different, but usually the 'light' opens up all the emotional/energetic/mental/physical connections and we go through a process of integration - when this is complete I normally pop straight into this thoughtless, expanded 'peripheral awareness' state.

[Ian]

So do you never work on specific issues?

 

I think that 'being present with the whole picture' is what I do in meditation - and of course things do, indeed, come up. Mostly it's mind-based diversions. The mind is scared of the lack of control, so it throws up all kinds of thoughts/ideas/conversations etc.

 

However - sometimes something more fundamental gently calls for attention (of course it's not easy to differentiate what's mind-stuff and what's a genuine call for attention from a more fundamental part of you, but I find that there is a distinctly different feel to it - more emotional/energetic/fluid/kinasthetic - you cant put your finger on it or express it in words - in me, this usually means a suppressed aspect is calling for attention.)

 

In this case I do something very different. I give it some attention. My intention is to become aware of it - not to change it, heal it, transform it or whatever. I often say 'hello' (usually not in words) and just sit with it without any intention - sometimes the issue welcomes this attention, sometimes it gets frightened off. Hard to explain, but it's like an invitation for that suppressed aspect to step into the light of awareness... each time it's different, but usually the 'light' opens up all the emotional/energetic/mental/physical connections and we go through a process of integration - when this is complete I normally pop straight into this thoughtless, expanded 'peripheral awareness' state.

 

I guess my paradigm is different. In the system I practice it's all Karma. The whole body is karma. I've never had a thought or an emotion, they are all karma's. So nothing, but nothing, can be genuine enough to be worthy of special treament, as it were.

 

Having said that, I've heard of occasions where a particularly fierce bit of karma has needed to be negotiated with. (After all it's older, smarter, and stronger than us, such that refusing to participate is our only resource.) But I don't know how that might work.

 

And Sifu does talk about affordable karma, i.e. letting your desires have some fun while you're off duty. No point in building extra resistance.

 

So anyway, when you give attention and say hello, does that reduce your awareness of the rest of the picture?

 

I think I often do a similar thing in that I will sort of sweep the interior to make sure I'm not avoiding anywhere, and that can involve "meeting" lumps etc.

 

Incidentally, let no-one think I'm any good at all this. Most of any given session will still be daydreaming!

[freeform]