The first time I understood the notion of our pain-body, and how being present was its antidote, was over 20 years ago when I read the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, * I am re-reading it with my supervision group and it is just as powerful as it was then. This book was responsible for galvanizing many changes in my life. Today, its spiritual message is just as important and profound.
If ever there was a time that we could silently slip back into our pain-body and lose track of enjoying the present, it is now. While many people are relaxing and appreciating the change of pace created by Covid 19, there are just as many who have lapsed into fearful and self-deprecating thought patterns.
Let us take a look at the concept of your pain-body and how being present helps curtail it to make life more positive and productive.
What Is Your Pain-Body
For every loss, every hurt, neglect or abuse, there is a residue of pain that lives on in the energetic body. It is stored as fear and will make itself known in a myriad of negative thoughts, emotional reactions, even illness. For most, this is the silent suffering that keeps people anxious, distressed, worried, irritable, and impatient; for others it is like a demon of anger, rage and self-destructive reactions.
Living unconscious, without awareness of your pain-body only works for so long. When it becomes triggered, it can take over and fill life with suffering. Understanding and working with your underlying thoughts and feelings is the path to a more conscious and meaningful life.
The Thought Feeling Connection
If you examine your well-worn path of repetitive and usually negative and self-depreciating thoughts that dominate your silent interior life, you will find the residue of your pain-body. Most people simply accept this and learn to keep it hidden. It is only in times of threat that the fearful thoughts surfaces with strong feelings and reactions. Like now, as people worry about the life and death impact of contagion.
If you pay attention and follow the instructions on how to stay safe, you can quell the fear. But if you have done everything right and are still consumed with anxiety, you are likely dealing with fear that needs a different approach. This is where Eckhart Tolle comes in – to raise your consciousness and learn to disconnect the over identification with your thoughts.
You Are Not Your Thoughts
Our reliance on thought as our most important and powerful asset is at the heart of what keeps us unconscious. It creates a never-ending loop of thinking and emotionally reactivity, with negativity, judgement and fear running our lives. It keeps us attached to all the trappings of things and accomplishments as a definition of who we are.
If you can stop long enough to notice the impact of your negative, judging and fearful thoughts on your body and your intentions, you begin to be the observer. It is the observer or wise mind who will help you stop feeding the fearful thoughts and lead you to sanity and open conscious awareness.
Switching Focus To the Present
Fear arises when your thoughts focus on something bad happening in the future or past. The “Oh no, what if” or the “Oh no, not again” train of thought. As soon as it arrives, you have lost contact with your conscious, internal wise observer and are in the grip of the ego’s vulnerability and insecurity. Most of all, you are not in the present moment.
Try this instead: notice your feelings, understand the thoughts that are provoking them and move your attention to the present moment. Notice and be aware, letting go of the thoughts. Let the normalcy and steadiness of the natural world or surroundings sooth and comfort you – find the thought that knows and accepts “what is”. You are now in the present. Keep repeating this until the fear is gone. It will work – it just takes practice and a desire to be more consciously aware.
This process of increasing your consciousness is one of the most important journeys you can take. It will change your life and move you from living in your rapid cycling negative thoughts and suffering pain-body into an open, present oriented wise mind. It certainly has helped change my life. The shift can be dramatic and life altering, as it was for Eckhart Tolle, when he started his journey to be a spiritual master, or a slow steady evolution. You will find that It will move you out of the suffering of your pain-body into the pleasure of the moment.
If you would like to find your wise mind, the observer who knows the truth of your thoughts and feelings and claim a life of more present oriented spiritual consciousness, I recommend reading Echkart Tolle’s book, the Power of Now and his others as well. They will set you on your path, just as they did me. If you want help in the process, my Transformational Life Coaching and Therapy can provide support. See my website www.spectrumtransformation.com for more information and reach out using my Free Consultation link. I would be honored to be a guide on your journey.
*For links to Eckhart Tolle’s books, CDs, training resources and information, go here: https://eckharttolle.com/
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