Beautiful Pain

Where there is pain or discomfort, there can also be a raw, beautiful release.

My favourite example of this is the horse stance, which, in my experience, is the epitome of discomfort.
I like this example because it’s accessible to everyone with a pair of legs.

If, instead of running from the discomfort, we allow it to permeate our experience fully, we end up creating a counter-experience: bliss.

And this isn’t some airy, poetic idea — it’s literal. When you choose to sit in a horse stance for some time and it finally ends, the rush of endorphins is fucking orgasmic.

How orgasmic? Well, it’s proportionate to how much you face and therefore dissolve the struggle.

You’ll reward yourself (neurochemically / spiritually) to the extent choose to be with yourself — to the extent you relax into the intense sensations.

Because absolutely nothing is more blissful and fear-dissolving than being content to be where one is, while facing pain, change or challenge.

You can do this by softening and releasing unnecessary muscular tension downwards, through the belly, hips, legs and feet, into the ground.

There is also the possibility in these challenging situations to dissociate from one’s bodily experience and choose distraction.

There always is…

But it’s not the way to live, because we all have to face ourselves in the end.

So we should practice “being with” as often as we can, and in doing so, create this flourishing of raw, unadulterated beauty that grows, rather than shrinks, in proportion to the struggle.