26 Feb Essay: The “Felt Sense” Prayer, an invitation to reflect on your sensations

We recently read this essay by an unknown author, and we loved it.

We hope it helps you reflect on the relation you have with your sensations. Does rejection arise? Do you build up resistance?

The “Felt Sense” Prayer

“I am the pain in your head, the knot in your stomach, the unspoken grief in your smile. I’m your high blood pressure, your fear of challenge, your lack of trust.

I’m your hot flashes, your fragile lower back, your agitation, and fatigue. You tend to disown me, suppress me, ignore me, coddle me, condemn me. You usually want me to go away immediately, to disappear, to slip back into obscurity. More times than not, I’m only the recent notes of a long symphony. The most evident branches of roots that have been challenged for seasons. So, I implore you. I’m a messenger with good news as disturbing as I can be at times. I am wanting to guide you back to those tender places in yourself.

The place where you can hold yourself with compassion and honesty. I may ask you to alter your diet, to get more sleep, exercise regularly, breath more consciously. I might encourage you to see a vaster reality and worry less about the day-to-day fluctuations of life. I may ask you to explore the bonds and wounds of your relationships. I am your friend not your enemy. I’ve no desire to bring pain and suffering into your life. I’m simply tugging at your sleeve too long immune to gentle nudges.

You are a being so vast, so complex with amazing capacities for self-regulation and healing. Let me be one of the harbingers that leads you to the mysterious core of your being where insight and wisdom are naturally available when called upon with a sincere heart.”

Do these words touch you?

There is a meditation technique which consists of paying attention to sensations. Do not reject them and give them space to manifest themselves. We can even name them, describe them mentally (if it’s a deep sensation, if it’s a tickling, a pressure, a tension, a pulsation, heat, ,…) and let them be as they are.

You will discover how all sensations are fleeting and temporary.

If you want to learn to meditate or deepen your practice and have more mindfulness tools, come to one of our retreats at Casa Cuadrau.