11/07/2025
Ahhh,
New research backs that meditation is uncomfortable, stressing, anxiety provoking and can jolt the release of old memories.
Yes science, this is as much the point of the practice as is the peace. Through reflection and introspection, we are to explore our inner workings, which for many of us is not solely circled in sunshine.
The study I read went on to explain that perhaps it just isn't right for everyone, directly projecting the lack of accountability that has held so many of us in spiritual paralysis for so long.
Meditation can take many forms, and many who begin the practice in search of higher productivity rates and motivation to go on as intended will often be dismayed. The fact is that the practice may very well bring practitioners to face realities that have been otherwise avoided by a lack of devotion to contemplation. Often, the spiritual awakening can be signaled by the perceived crisis that the person does not wish to go on as before. Meditation calls us to understand the ways in which we are deeply unsatisfied or unfulfilled in our daily lives.
While practices of gratitude, compassion (often disguised as privileged pity) and relaxation are promoted widely throughout modern science, I imagine researchers are having a difficult time wrapping their heads around why someone would willingly chuck themselves into the fire of radical reinvention.
To all the seekers dipping their toes into the practice and finding pain rather than pleasure, I encourage you to read dante, the heroes journey, the dark night of the soul.
Do you question the rewards from the pain of exertion and the body sweating from exercise when you've been out of shape/practice for a long period of time? No. Science may take it's time, but the spiritualist has long understood that suffering is the first step of an awakening🪶
*This post is not intended as a promotion, but if you need resources or would like guidance along the beginning of a new journey, do not hesitate to reach out*
