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Resistance Encountered While Meditating

How many people have decided to really do the work and regularly meditate? And how many people have also seen that the minute they decide to do this, that the world suddenly and urgently request their attention.

The minute they sit for meditation, the phone will ring incessantly (even though not a single person has called all day previous to this). Suddenly someone will turn up at the front door knocking loudly. The dog next door has now decided to test it's vocal chords and the man across the road agreed that now was the time to mow that long grass. The new neighbors down the street are getting all their furniture delivered and the airport has decided that the best flight path for incoming aircraft is directly over your house. Even with headphones on you can still hear the man next door starting up his electric power tools - he has just discovered his interest in making furniture. The kids down the block think that a rowdy game of chasing is just the thing to do. In desperation, you decide that now is NOT the time to meditate.

Suddenly, as if by divine intervention, the world turns quiet again. The dog stops barking, the mowing is finished, the power tools blow a fuse, the kids are called inside, no planes are scheduled to land. OK, you say, maybe I can do it now. You sit and begin to meditate. The phone rings, the man discovers more lawn to mow, the dog gets another tickle in it's throat, the fuse is fixed and power tools are at the ready...

Sounds humorous, but many times this is exactly what it is like. Then we repeat to ourselves, "recovery means actually developing and practicing the management skills and meditation is one of those skills." What do we do?

Other times, it is the noise that is inside of our heads that stops us from even sitting down to meditate. There is always something else to do. "Maybe I should do this first, then meditate," we tell ourselves. "I will wait until it is the ideal time to meditate." Unfortunately, that time never arises. There will always be something else to do, there will always be some kind of a distraction. It is the nature of the world we live in today. Most of the time, it is our own thoughts that are the biggest obstacle. It is this very thinking mind that we need to discipline to actually recover.

So what do you do if the world demands your attention 24-hours a day? First thing is to look at the reality of the situation. If you can't even give 20-minutes to yourself in a 24-hour day, there is definitely something wrong here. Maybe this is the reason the Anxiety Disorder continues to live and breath. Also, many people do have responsibility to children, but they have to go to bed sometime. There will always be a window of opportunity for us to sit, even for 20-minutes.

The other aspect is quiet. Yes, a preferable situation but in some cities there will be no real quiet. A varying gray of quiet and noise. The truth is that you can meditate anywhere. You incorporate the noise/sound into your meditation and let go of the thoughts that are agitated by it. Soon you will find your senses close and you are not aware of the external sounds. Many people do use headphones to listen to music and this cuts out external noise too. But the most important question is: why are you avoiding it? What is the real reason you are not meditating? Why are you procrastinating? Does fear come into the equation?

We're going so fast all the time, racing frantically toward a time when we can S-L-O-W down. When we're going so frantically, with so much to do and so little time, it never occurs to us that what we really need to do is STOP. How do you feel when you slow down, relax ...stop? How do you keep yourself from slowing down, relaxing ...stopping. The simple truth is - no one, nothing, can take your peace and calmness away from you. You give it up voluntarily. And we give it up so easily, for just about anything (other people's opinions, long lines, late meals, red lights). Meditation is a perfect place to simply slow down, to stop the treadmill for a few moments. A place to catch our breath. Somewhere, we can let go of the tension and conflict and start with a fresh palette.

Every human being needs a time-out. So what is it that actually stops us from meditating. A lot of the time it comes down to basic resistance. Some people genuinely don't enjoy meditating. I wonder why? Is this a form of resistance? Perhaps. Why wouldn't anyone enjoy relaxing, letting go of the outside world - all the trouble and commotion? Perhaps being totally absorbed in the outside world is a diversion from being alone with ourselves. Perhaps the commotion and trouble is actually greater inside our head than it is in the outside world. Perhaps it is a way to avoid.

Whatever reason, if meditation is not your thing, then we can still use other methods to sneak up on it. The other reason most sited by the "no, no. I don't want to..." class is that there isn't enough time. Is this resistance? I understand that the world is shouting in our ear 24-hours a day, that it is in our face constantly; but we do have some control over our lives. We can say when we are going to eat, brush our teeth, watch TV. When will we tell the world to "go on hold" for 20-minutes while we take a breather? You are giving up your own responsibility for recovery. Recovery is not going to knock on your door one day and say "Yoohoo, here I am."

The other reason people don't meditate is the primary emotion beneath resistance--that is fear. Oh yes, the big four-letter F word. People have expressed the following fears in regards to meditation: fear of losing control, fear of going too deep into meditation (plus the added one of what if they go so deep they can't come out), fear of sitting with their thoughts, and some it is just fear of the unknown. It is OK to acknowledge this feeling to yourself. They are normal reactions when we have spent our whole life running away from yourself.

The truth is, there is nothing to fear in meditation. You are always one thought away from everyday reality. No matter how relaxed and deep you go in meditation, you will always be able to come out of meditation - just one thought away. Seeing the reality of our thoughts and mind can be scary if we have never seen their power over us. To meditate is to take back that overwhelming power they have. We are actually less in control when we are under the domination of our out-of-control thoughts than when we are meditating and learning to let go of them. We can acknowledge the fear we feel ... say OK - there is a part of me that is trying to defend me and look after me, but it may simply be that it is fearful of the unknown. I have to give it a go and see for myself. Make the unknown the known. To experiment. If we give in to the fear, we will not get closer to the goal, recovery.

Meditation

The step of starting to release and lower the levels of anxiety stored within the body: This step is vital in reducing the intensity of the symptoms and the frequency of the 'attacks'. It is also very important because of it's power to teach the skill of 'cognition' i.e. working with our thoughts. Practicing meditation also increases awareness - an important component that assists us towards recovery. It is recommended that for optimum effectiveness we meditate for 20-minutes twice daily. Some people however find that time constraints only lend to meditating once a day. Some people also find it difficult to meditate for the full 20-minutes - that's OK, just meditate for 5 or 10-minutes and slowly increase from there. The act of sitting for meditation is itself of benefit. It is putting the Anxiety Disorder on notice that I am willing to do whatever I have to do to recover. Refer to Meditation section - Power over Panic: by Bronwyn Fox for meditation instructions.

Be Kind To Yourself!!

A simple but essential ingredient for recovery. The kinder you are to yourself, the quicker you are going to recover. I personally have seen this to be true - repeatedly. To treat yourself, as you would a loved one or someone you truly care about. If your best friend came to you telling you that they experience all of this, what would you do? Tell them to "pull yourself together"? No, you would sit them down and ask "What can I do for you? How can I help?" If you take this approach with yourself, you will be amazed!

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