Welcome to this guided practice,
Presencing Symptoms.
The purpose of this practice is to untether or untangle the meaning that we assign to the sensations or symptoms that we experience.
When we can let go of the meaning and come back to the symptom or sensation and experience it more directly,
It can change or shift the relationship we have.
And it can also reduce resistance.
When there is less resistance,
Then the experience can radically shift.
So if you are experiencing difficulty or if you are having a lot of fear about a symptom or sensation that you're experiencing,
This practice could be very helpful.
So to begin,
We're just going to take a moment to notice what it's like to be here right now.
Letting go of whatever happened before,
Whatever might happen in the future,
Just letting ourself be here now.
And just notice what you notice.
Notice you have hands and feet.
Notice your breath.
If you're sitting on a chair,
Notice where your body is making contact with the chair,
Or maybe your feet making contact with the floor.
What's it like to notice?
And when you're ready,
And you may already be noticing this,
Just bring to mind a symptom or sensation that you are having trouble with.
It could be dizziness,
Or it could be anxiety,
Or it could be pain.
Whatever it is for you,
Just bring your attention to that thing.
And the important question is,
What does this mean?
In other words,
What meaning am I assigning to this sensation that I'm experiencing?
We don't realize it,
But we're often experiencing the meaning,
Not the sensation.
So for example,
If I'm noticing some dizziness in my head,
What meaning am I giving that?
Is it I'm getting worse,
Or is it this is going to go downhill fast,
Or I'm not safe,
Or this isn't working?
Just take a moment and see if you can identify the meaning that you're assigning.
And once you can identify that,
We want to inquire.
We want to question this,
Keeping in mind that the meaning is arbitrary.
We could assign any meaning that we wanted to,
So why are we choosing this one?
So let's take the example of I'm noticing dizziness,
And the meaning I'm assigning is I'm getting worse.
So how do I react when I believe I'm getting worse?
Do I feel open or closed?
Do I feel connected or disconnected?
Does the thought I'm getting worse bring me peace or stress?
And if I couldn't have this thought anymore,
Like if I just couldn't find it,
No matter how hard I looked,
What would I lose?
What would I lose if I couldn't have the thought that I'm getting worse?
What is this thought giving me?
Maybe I would lose a sense of control,
Or maybe I would lose hope.
As strange as that sounds,
Sometimes the thought like I'm getting worse can actually provide a sense of hope,
Because if I'm getting worse,
Then maybe I can do something to get better.
Versus,
I don't know what this is.
So whatever it is for you,
What would you lose if you couldn't have the thought anymore?
And then for just one moment,
What would it be like without the thought?
And truly,
It just takes a moment,
And you can keep the thought if you want to come back to it,
But for just a moment,
What would it be like without the thought I'm getting worse?
Would it feel more open or less open?
Would it feel more connected or less connected?
Just notice what it is for you.
Now,
We want to come back to the sensation,
So go ahead and bring your attention back to it.
What is the sensation like without the meaning?
What is the actual experience without the meaning I'm getting worse?
So just take a moment and see if you can describe,
Notice what the felt sense is.
Maybe it feels like energy moving.
Or maybe it feels tingly.
Maybe it feels tight.
Just take a moment to describe it.
And if this sensation,
This feeling,
If it had a color,
What color would it be?
If this sensation had a texture or a shape,
What would it be?
Would it be smooth,
Rough,
Spiky?
Would it be round?
Would it be heavy or light?
Really noticing and describing what this is.
And don't worry about doing this right.
Just whatever comes up.
So this is not something to figure out.
It's just what comes up.
Maybe it's red.
Maybe it's blue.
Maybe it's purple.
I don't know why.
It just is.
And as you're noticing this thing,
Ask yourself,
Am I allowing this or am I resisting this?
And for just a moment,
What would it be like to give this thing,
This sensation,
This feeling,
To give it permission to be exactly the way that it is?
Giving it permission to feel dizzy or tingly or tight.
Giving it permission to be the way that it is without trying to change it,
Make it go away.
What is it like for just a moment to allow this sensation to exist?
And you might find that something has shifted.
It could be subtle.
It could be not subtle.
But your experience of this thing might be a little bit different.
And so practicing this over time,
Noticing the symptom or sensation,
Identifying the meaning,
Inquiring into the meaning,
Untethering it from the symptom or sensation,
And then coming back new to notice what the actual experience is and exploring what it would be like to let go of our resistance to it and to let it be the way that it is.
It might need permission to get to be the way that it is in order for it to let go,
To shift.
So I hope this practice is useful to you.
It doesn't take a lot of time.
You can do it for a few minutes,
A few times a day,
And just see how it shifts your relationship with the symptom or sensation.
