| | Hi,
I've been doing for a couple of weeks Mahasi Sayadaw noting out-loud. So far, I'm happy with the practice.
There's a question I like to post: how to proceed when there's a persistent pain in the body? In my case, it's either the throat or the chest. It's not something that can be amended correcting the posture, I've already tried that. The point is acknowledging the pain, I try to decompose it in tinier sensations: vibrations, itches, burns, tightness. When there's no pain, I've been able to note for example like a first layer of a general vibration and a second layer of tiny itches arising and passing every second. But when there's pain, if I concentrate the focus on the area, the tension increases and so the second layer cannot be seen.
My first reaction is to think that if I'm doing something that builds tension, then it must be wrong. And that instead, I should open the focus to all the body and follow the pain in the periphery. By doing this, the pain lessens a lot but doesn't disappear completely. In this case, sensations in other parts of the body arises constantly, so I cannot go beyond the first layer of sensations where the pain is. I can just note pain and jump to another sensation.
What should I do? Keep the focus on the pain no matter what? Is there a way to focus in it and not build in more tension? Or should I open the focus to the whole body instead?
Thanks for your help. |