I was just chatting with one of the amazing people that I mentor last night and came up with a new analogy ..... You know how when you are driving and you come to a set of traffic lights, and it turns orange then red just as you get there and you have to stop? Well, I bet you don't sit there reminding and reassuring yourself that the light will change? Why? Because it always does, right?! We just know that the traffic light will change and that it doesn't need our encouragement or analysis. It doesn't occur to us that it's personal or that we need to dig into our tool bag of techniques to deal or cope with it. But sometimes we are in a hurry, we are stressed and not thinking clearly, and then it's a completely different experience. Now it does feel personal, in fact, the whole darn system is against us!! The light takes ages to change. "Come on, come on!!" Its sinister redness is now staring down at you with its menacing stare like it's trying to make you late on purpose! Ughh, the seconds are ticking by so slowly now like a victorian clock echoing around your head! You might even be revving the engine or the second it changes you are honking at that idiot driver in front of you to move already!!!
Thought always moves, its nature is to flow, it doesn't need our supervision or permission or a technique. So when a pain flare-up comes, reacting and panicking is a bit like reacting to the traffic light. When I used to get a pain flare I was already reaching for the hot water bottle, calling the chiropractor, and making a move to lie on the floor for a few days. I knew the routine and I would get frustrated and sometimes think myself into panic scaring myself that this time it wouldn't get better.
But with insight and an understanding of how experience really works, I don't have to have anything on it, it passes and I'm good to go. No talking to my brain, no encouragement or technique needed. Just insight and gratitude and the knowledge that like the lights, thought is always going to change.
With love Chana
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