From Golf Course to Dentist Chair: A Path to Quietude
This week we continue to hear from Lisa Sheehan, who has taken us with her to the beach, to the golf course, and now to the dentist's chair, each time showing us how versatile, accessible and reliable a mindfulness practice can be. Thank you, Lisa!
A few years ago my dentist started pestering me to get a crown on one of my molars, but my tooth felt fine so I declined the suggestion. A recent and sudden onset of dental pain increased to the point where I needed an immediate, extensive root canal. During the procedure, I repeatedly scanned my body from head to toe, exploring for the 4 T’s: tension, tightness, tiredness or tenderness. I gave equal time and attention to linger in places that felt relaxed and at ease in the moment. I observed time and again that I would repeatedly wander off into aversive thoughts of my discomfort, loss of control and the resulting negative emotions…. then I would patiently reset and begin scanning my body again while breathing mindfully. In retrospect, this experience served as a reminder that the Body Scan is a powerful tool of concentration where we can kindly guide our attention away from our often stressful, thinking mind and down into our body where we can give ourselves permission to just breathe. It’s an added bonus to consider that in addition to practicing it formally, a Body Scan can be efficacious in an informal manner if we incorporate it into our everyday life experiences, perhaps leading to some form of stress reduction or self-care as we tune into the body’s signals.
A mindfulness practice will not eradicate stressors or the universal human experience of suffering but rather, it can be seen as a tool to empower us to respond to life experiences with a greater sense of equanimity rather than reactively repelling things we dislike or habitually clinging to things that are pleasing. We are living in truly transformational times as we journey through these historic and turbulent days of a pandemic in addition to powerful societal issues around politics and social justice. At a time when many of us are experiencing heightened emotions and spending a lot of time in our heads ruminating about both the past year and the future, bringing our center of gravity down into the body and the breath can be a practical, easily accessible and effective means to provide a sense of respite, stillness, restoration and quietude.
Hoping that you will join us this week in person, by conference call or by Zoom, or virtually via the many recorded meditations on the website. Click here to see our full schedule.
May all beings everywhere, without exception, feel a sense of respite, stillness, restoration and quietude,
Your CMP Family
