The Therapeutic Effect of Non-Resistance

January 29, 2012

Dear Friends,

Many, many moons ago, when I was in my late twenties, I suffered from chronic lower back pain. And “suffered” is the right word to use here. Because, over time, that pain became so intense, it was almost paralyzing.

Seeking the source of my problem, I consulted my family physician, an orthopedic surgeon, an internist, a chiropractor, and an arthritis specialist. Although tests revealed that I was definitely experiencing some kind of severe inflammation, not a single one of those medical professionals was able to diagnose my condition.

One day, with no relief in sight, and nowhere else to turn, I sat down, threw up my hands, and basically said to myself, “Oh, to heck with it!” I gave up trying to fight the pain, and just surrendered to it. And guess what? Almost immediately, the pain began to subside. And within a week or so, it was completely gone.

I was pain-free for several months, and then the pain returned. But this time, I responded to it differently. Instead of resisting the pain, I simply observed it. “Oh, there’s that pain again,” I said to myself. As uncomfortable as it was, I accepted the pain. And this time, it went away in a matter of days.

It was a year before the pain came back again. And when it did, once again I didn’t resist it. I just allowed it to be. And once again, it quickly passed. And that’s when I had an epiphany about my pain. Although the pain I was experiencing was very real, and there was probably a very real reason I was experiencing inflammation in that part of my body, I realized that it was my resistance to the pain that caused it to increase in intensity and severity.

The original pain itself was not really intolerable. But when I resisted the pain, my body would become so tense, the pain was greatly magnified. And the longer I resisted the pain, the more chronic my condition became. The “cure” was for me to “relax into the pain,” and make it easier for my body to do what it is designed to do—heal itself. My resistance—and the tension and anxiety that accompanied that resistance—was only creating a toxic environment that inhibited my body’s natural healing response.

In short, I discovered the therapeutic effect of non-resistance. Several years passed before I had to deal with that pain again. And it has now been over two decades since I have experienced that particular issue.

There is a popular saying that goes like this: “What you resist, persists.” And you can certainly see how that applies to this situation. But there is another saying that is equally apropos: “Suffering is optional.” That statement refers to the fact that a certain amount of pain may be inescapable in life, but suffering is experiencing that pain to an exaggerated extent, and—in many cases—that degree of pain is avoidable.

Friends, whether you are physically suffering because of an illness or an injury, or you are emotionally suffering due to a hurtful situation or a seemingly detrimental circumstance, I encourage you to practice non-resistance to see if it lessens the severity of your pain. Allow yourself to feel your pain just as it is, instead of fighting against the very existence of your pain—which, of course, is futile. What is . . . is! All the resistance in the world is not going to alter that fact. And your resistance may actually be making the experience worse.

Here’s to the therapeutic effect of non-resistance! Here’s to knowing that sometimes the best thing you can do to help alleviate your suffering is to just sit down, throw up your hands, and say to yourself, “Oh, to heck with it!”

Steven

Note: If you have any reason at all to suspect that you have a truly serious physical or emotional condition, please don’t hesitate to immediately seek the counsel of a certified health professional. Non-resistance may lessen the severity of your pain, but that doesn’t mean that it will eliminate your pain altogether, or remove its cause.

Share

© 2012 by Steven Lane Taylor
Author of Row, Row, Row Your Boat:
A Guide for Living Life in the Divine Flow
www.rowrowrow.com
Steven Lane Taylor, LLC