Some people find it hard to meditate because of the stillness and quite that it generates while you are in this state of mind.
Let me explain by taking you there:
Sit quietly and allow your breath to settle into its natural rhythm. As you rest in this stillness, it is only a matter of time before a sensation arises—perhaps a prickle on the skin, a sudden tickle, or a persistent itch.
With that sensation comes a sudden, compelling command to Scratch it. or it could be the sensation to clear your throat? Whatever it is, it’s not important. What is importance however is the way your thoughts and sensations try and take over your peace and quiet of a meditation session.
It’s like your mind doesn’t want you to rest and be still, it wants you to problem solve and be active because it is frightened of the silence, it feels vulnerable and exposed. Your mind is always after NOISE and CHAOS to create a barrier to hide behind.
Notice what happens the moment that feeling arrives. The mind instantly transforms a simple physical sensation into an urge.
Look closely at that word: Urge. It acts as the shorthand for URGENT!
The mind whispers that this tiny point of irritation requires immediate, non-negotiable action. It mimics an emergency. But where does that sense of urgency come from? It is born from agitation and fueled by anxiousness. The mind becomes anxious to change the present moment, unable to tolerate things exactly as they are. It creates a false fire alarm out of a passing breeze.
These are the same fuelling chemicals that get released during a Panic Attack. It’s started by the minds response to anxiety of not being able to cope with a sensation you are not in control of.
Going back to the simple skin itch When the “urgent” alarm sounds in your practice, try a different approach:
Pause before the reaction: Acknowledge the sensation, but strip away its title. It is not an emergency; it is just energy on the skin.
Observe the tension: Notice how the mind tries to tighten around the itch, creating a knot of resistance. That tightness is the agitation.
Breathe into the urgency: Inhale deeply, acknowledging the anxiety that demands a quick fix. Exhale and let the urgency soften.
By choosing not to scratch, you are not punishing yourself. You are uncovering a profound truth: the urgency is an illusion.
Watch the itch as an objective observer. It peaks, it throbs, it demands your attention—and then, if left alone, it inevitably fades away on its own. By sitting through the agitation without reacting, you teach the mind that it does not have to jump every time a thought or sensation yells “FIRE”
“WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO, BECOMES YOUR LIFE”
In this stillness, the urge loses its power, urgency dissolves back into space, and you are left in deep, unshakeable peace.
By practicing with something as simple as an itch and the resistance of reacting to your mind to relieve you of that itch by physically scratching it can be a huge lesson to train your mind to stay with any type of discomfort that comes to you.
This lesson is extremely beneficial when a Panic Attack rears its ugly head and you react to it by trying to stop it from getting any worse. It is this resistance from it that makes the Panic Attack too get worse. You are in-fact panicking from panic. This starts a cascade of adrenal chemicals being released by your adrenal glands to the body to prepare it for the Fight or Flight mode to get you ready to tackle the “so called” danger ahead.
To train your mind to cope with a simple thing like a nagging itch without over reacting to it is a valuable lesson in your coping mechanism strategies of stress by what your thoughts create every single day of your life. If you are unable to withstand a simple nagging itch without over reacting to it what are the possibilities of you sitting through a FULL BLOW PANIC ATTACK?
Conclusion:
Start practising ACCEPTANCE by enduring and coping with simple techniques of discomfort that your mind conjures up when its left alone in silence and it feels exposed and vulnerable.
Meditation CAN bring you tremendous amounts of calm, peace, and relaxation if it knows it can be left alone by itself without all the noise of your everlasting intrusive thoughts that bombard your brain every day. Other than that you will never find true peace and happiness if you are at the mercy of your own thoughts and sensations by constantly jumping to their ATTENTION whenever they say JUMP!
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“Acceptance” ‘Change the way you are thinking’ (Full 359 pages)
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