My Saturdays are Yin Yoga days and this time, I have more lessons to share from my last class.
Like this form of Yoga, life also gives us the option to pick between pain and discomfort. Only an individual knows whether the discomfort is pain or pain is just a little discomfort. It is not something anyone else can tell you cos you are the one who is going through this.
If it’s pain, identify and get rid of it. If it is discomfort, try to move around a bit.
So when in tough situations of life – see what you are going through is pain or discomfort? In discomfort, you can change things within, whatever possible on the outside and hang on. You will not be able to push yourself further if you are in pain. However, if you are feeling uncomfortable, this could be a good time to test yourself.
Would you agree?
Writing for #MicroblogMondays today and tagging the picture I clicked to MundaneMondays #74.
happiness and food 
It is interesting how you have differentiated between pain and discomfort.
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Thanks Sunaina!
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Very interesting. Pain or discomfort. Could we be speaking of them interchangeably. And then some pain is actually pleasurable. Like the soreness you feel after exercise. It is good pain that goes after a day and is a result of exercise which is good for you.
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See! You know your pain the best 😉 thank you, Rachna!
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Really like what you said about testing yourself if you are experiencing discomfort. Alot of times we give up on something because it makes us uncomfortable so we never reach our potential in that area. Great perspective!
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True that, Harmony!
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pain and discomfort .. hm,
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Agree! Hadn’t considered pain or discomfort differently before, nice interpretation. Discomfort has to be dealt with, while pain either has to be overcome or avoided.
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Sometimes we need to deal with pain too. Confusing, isn’t it?
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Agree! Very interesting. There’s also of course the emotional discomfort. When I’m so scared to try something but I keep thinking about it. I may be so uncomfortable with the nervousness but I know it’s something I really want to try or I wouldn’t keep going back to it and I know if I don’t do it, I’ll regret it.
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That happens when we really want to do something. Then we are scared but we want to go ahead. Don’t we?
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Interesting perspective Parul! Never thought about it before. Now I will.
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Thanks! I am also training my mind.
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WOW! I would definitely agree, and that’s a great perspective to have. Thanks for sharing!
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My pleasure. 🙂
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I do agree. And yet I think it’s simple to understand the words and what I should theoretically do when in pain/discomfort, but in those moments, it’s so not simple.
As someone said to me today coming down from an uncomfortable incident, “being human is hard.”
Your post will stay with me. I’ll try to remember this the next time I’m in a tough place.
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You are right, Lori. When the real need comes, it’s hard to think rationally. I totally agree with you 🙂
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This is an interesting perspective about pain and discomfort. I agree discomfort can be worked upon internally but pain, physical or emotional, might require external help.
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Yep! Thanks, Anamika.
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Completely agree with this and I love how you are able to use lessons from yoga into life. More often than not, we try to avoid discomfort because it doesn’t feel good. In fact, it’s all about us stretching ourselves and moving out of our comfort zone — and that’s not meant to be easy!
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True that! Thanks, Sanch.
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That’s an interesting perspective. The thing is if we don’t take care of discomfort and try to her rid of it there are high chances of it turning into pain. So yeah, we should tackle it as soon as possible.
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Discomfort could also be just in the mind. So sometimes it’s important to let it go. Thanks, Tulika.
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It is quite interesting to see how you separate the two – pain and discomfort. I’ve often felt that both of these have degrees of intensity that can range from bearable to unbearable. Talking about myself, I can say that our threshold of pain and discomfort definitely increases over time and also varies from person to person.
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Actually, you are right.The threshold keeps changing.
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Your post reminded me of a line from Sri Aurobindo – Pain is the hand of Nature sculpturing men to greatness. I think at some point we must recognise that pain like most everything else also comes with a purpose behind it (of course I am not speaking of self-induced pain – psychological, physical, emotional etc – one that we bring it upon us due to our bad choices and ill-will or wrong attitudes). I guess I am also saying something similar to the example Rachna gives in her comment. Discomfort, on the other hand, seems more of a fleeting thing, which maybe handled more easily. But addressing pain and transcending it could take some serious work 🙂 Good perspective you bring up here, Parul. Thanks for this food for thought.
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Thank you Beloo for sharing Sri Aurobindo’s thoughts.
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I do agree but wish Life was more simpler like that .. sometimes the uncomfortable are worse then PAIN ..
Bikram’s
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That I agree..
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This was a good post that I needed to read today. Life is in flux, and it is important to look at whether it’s pain or discomfort.
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Thank you, Mel. Don’t we all try to do that? 😉
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Wow this sure is profound. I hope I am able to differentiate between pain and discomfort. For now. I think I always try to get rid of both pain and discomfort.😉
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Ha ha!
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Oh, I love this so much! It makes me think of pigeon pose. That is discomfort, and my old yoga teacher used to tell us, “This is a pose that tests your fight-or-flight response. If it’s uncomfortable, try to stretch yourself. If it’s painful, though, modify. It will get easier if it’s uncomfortable but not painful.” It’s a good litmus test — is this pain or discomfort? Such a great thought to share and think on.
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You are right about the pigeon pose. I do have similar thoughts. Thank you.
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Every situation can be used to learn from, and nothing lasts forever- this has been my mantra for long now. Your theory seems right too.
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Same here 🙂
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How beautifully and with so much ease you teach such important things about life! I truly admire your wisdom!
Cheers
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How beautifully and with so much ease you teach such important things about life! I truly admire your wisdom!
Cheers
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Thanks much, Geetika!
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So true, Parul. Things become easier if we are able to identify if our situation is a pain or a discomfort. It does help to think things through.
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True that!
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Mundane Monday Insights! Nice thoughts for a Monday morning.
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Thank you!
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