Being with Discomfort

One of the things I’ve come across often in my work with people and myself, is our tendency to want to move out of discomfort as quickly as we can. There will be experiences that create a sense of discomfort, a sense of difficulty—something in our systems that maybe we’ve come across many times. Our tendency is to want to get out of it as quickly as possible. We don't sit with it.

We don't sit with the places in ourselves that are uncomfortable, or that we don't feel whole with. We start strategizing. How can I get out of this? And then we start taking actions that are external as opposed to the internal piece of simply welcoming the sensation that we're having, feeling it, allowing ourselves to be here with whatever it is. Maybe it's an emotion, maybe it's fear. Sometimes even joy is too much for us to sit with.

The invitation that I like to offer people is to ask them to welcome whatever sensations they're having, to stay present with the discomfort. Breathe into it. Allow yourself to feel what you feel without trying to change anything. You won't get stuck there. When you allow yourself to feel what you feel, there's a completion that can happen in your system. Give it a try.