09:04

Can I Overcome Stress And Physical Pain With Meditation?

by Ven.Pomnyun Sunim

Rated
5
Type
talks
Activity
Meditation
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Everyone
Plays
13

[With English interpretation] Ven. Pomnyun Sunim's (법륜스님) Answer to “Can I overcome stress and physical pain with meditation?” A question chosen from the weekly Sunday meditation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim(법륜스님). Peace of mind is only one step away.

StressPhysical PainMeditationSelf HealingGratitudeBreath AwarenessSleepExerciseMedical AdviceWorkplace Stress ManagementGratitude PracticeMedical Consultation AdviceWalkingSleep Quality ImprovementMeditation Mindset

Transcript

Stress from work leads to physical pains.

I get headaches and digestive problems along with stiffness in the neck and shoulders.

As my suffering worsens,

I think of improving and changing myself.

I try to loosen up and accept my situation with more openness,

But such endeavor only adds to the suffering.

Nevertheless,

I realize I must make a change.

How can I use meditation to understand my bodily reactions and overcome them?

Stress from work leads to physical pains.

I get headaches and digestive problems along with stiffness in the neck and shoulders.

As my suffering worsens,

I think of improving and changing myself.

I try to loosen up and accept my situation with more openness,

But such endeavor only adds to the suffering.

Nevertheless,

I realize I must make a change.

How can I use meditation to understand my bodily reactions and overcome them?

If you say you're in a serious state like this,

Then first and foremost,

You should go to a hospital and get help from medical experts.

And if the medical expert says that you need a long rest,

Then you have to take a long leave of absence or quit your job even to focus on your health first.

First and foremost,

You as a human being,

As an individual,

Should really focus on your health,

Mental and fiscal.

To earn money at the sacrifice of health is really meaningless.

So if you get examined by a medical practitioner,

And the doctor says you need some kind of treatment,

Then that's what you should focus on.

But if the doctor says there's no specific reason for you to feel this way,

Or there's no obvious concerns,

Then that's when you can turn to either meditation,

Prayer,

Or others to try to resolve the situation.

As prayer or meditation,

Those are forms of self-healing in which you are treating yourself.

But if the situation or the symptoms are bad enough so you can't do that,

That's when you need to go to a medical expert.

In fact,

Trying to self-heal through prayers or meditation,

A symptom that you should really treat through medical experts,

That actually might worsen your condition.

So what I'm about to say from now on rests on the assumption that your condition is not something that needs to be medically treated.

So before you go to work every day,

You got to put forth and bring forth a sense of gratitude.

You know,

Thankful that you're able to have this job,

Especially in this COVID environment,

To have a place to go where you can make a living.

And once again,

Bring out that sense of gratitude for lunch,

That you're thankful to be able to have this opportunity to work and make a living.

And once again,

Bring forth a sense of gratitude when you get off work.

So basically,

Bring forth a three distinct moments of gratitude about your job in the morning,

During lunch,

And when you get off.

Then of course,

Also meditation will help a little.

But you cannot approach meditation as a skill to be acquired.

Approach it with a relaxed state in which your mind and body are totally at ease.

Meditation is not something that you learn about.

It's not a skill you develop.

It's not a knowledge that you acquire.

You have to engage in meditation as if you have nothing else in this world to do except to meditate in that moment,

As if you're somebody who doesn't want anything,

Doesn't need anything,

Doesn't need to get anything,

In a total sense of idleness.

So all you have to do is shift your attention to the tip of your nose to be awake to the breath coming in and out.

You don't have to make an effort to want to focus on your breath.

You have to maintain a sense of spacious idleness,

And that's going to be more helpful.

Another thing that may help is to walk a lot.

At least 10,

000 steps a day.

And get a good night's sleep.

To help you relax and kind of bring down the level of nervous activity.

So rather than meditation being useful in this situation,

Bringing forth a sense of gratitude,

Walking a lot and sleeping well is probably going to be more helpful to your situation.

Meet your Teacher

Ven.Pomnyun SunimSeoul, South Korea

5.0 (1)

Recent Reviews

Clair

April 11, 2025

Very good advice

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