Is surrender the ultimate pain relief?
What is the role of surrender in our healing path?
From an energy perspective, we find ourselves out of balance whenever a blockage becomes apparent in our energy field, resulting in stagnant energy at the level of the body. Depending on where the blockage is, we might experience different symptoms and our general well-being can be affected based on our personal history, our lifestyle, environment, and so on. Regardless of where the blockage is, stagnant energy means that the optimal flow of natural life force is obstructed and, as a result, our energy system will suffer. TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) tells us that Pain = no flow, Flow = no pain. This is one way to understand energy blockages, another way is to look at concepts such as coherence and energy efficiency in our system. When a blockage is in place, the different bio systems in our body are not working together, they are incoherent, resulting in a significant energy expenditure. Energy which could ultimately be used for healing.
From a cognitive perspective, equating a blockage to something we are resisting at a psycho-emotional level can help us consider the role of surrender in our healing path. As Icelandic singer-song writer Bjork puts it: what you resist, persists. A valid question is “what comes first”, the energy blockage or the psychological component we are consciously or unconsciously holding on to. The answer might be more simple than we think, and less dualistic in nature. Research done by the HeartMath Institute suggests that our emotions are the ones running the show when it comes to health and well-being and they are directly responsible for the level of coherence and efficient use of energy within our bodies.
So how can we become aware of these blockages and what is the best way to let them go? This is where “surrender” becomes a doorway to alignment.
What is “surrender”? Understanding this fundamental question is the first step towards our personal healing. Surrender can be the most intimate experience of our human condition. And the most rewarding one. When we laid in our parents arms as children, basking in their love, we were in an attitude of surrender. When we make love and consciously choose to share ourselves with someone, we are surrendering to the experience of love. When we bask in nature, listening to birdsong in the forest, feeling the sunlight on our face or listening to the ocean with eyes closed — these are all experiences of surrender, of giving ourselves to the experience and “letting go”, allowing something or someone else to directly shape our present moment. This is not hard to do when we are experiencing emotions such as joy, peace, happiness. In fact, we are designed to seek such experiences. When it comes to negative emotions however, we haven’t learnt how to allow these emotions to be agents of transformation in our lives. For that is the potential they hold: they are catalysts for growth, expansion and evolution in life.
In spiritual literature, surrender is the path of transcendence of the personality, the ego, and its need for control. Spiritual surrender can take the form of devotion to a higher power (bhakti yoga), or a self inquiry method aimed at exposing the ego structure and ultimately realizing the Self and the interconnectedness of life. The end of separation. Whether we consider ourselves spiritual or not, spiritual wisdom teaches us that surrender is in fact an act of giving up what we are not, what doesn’t reflect our true identity and doesn’t serve us on our path of evolution.
What is the best way to include surrender in our personal care? This brings us back to the issue of energy blockages in our system. Emotions and thoughts are both forms of energy with the power to directly impact our health and balance, specially those thoughts and emotions that have been practiced for a long time. To surrender to an uncomfortable feeling does not mean to justify its existence. It simply means to acknowledge it as an experience, without judging it as good or bad. Surrender here is an act of sincerity and humility in our hearts. It means to truly embody honesty, opening the door to its healing light within our hearts. More than giving up control over what we can’t change, surrender is about allowing. It’s about no longer resisting the pain we feel. It’s about embodying vulnerability and truly facing the fear of not knowing how to feel different, not knowing how to fix this or that problem, and even not believing we can feel different. Simply allowing. At a fundamental level, surrender is an act of awareness, of knowing and embracing our deepest truth. It is precisely this light of awareness what brings healing into our hearts, reverberating through our physical as well as emotional bodies.
Are you going through something difficult, at a physical, psychological or emotional level? If so, try this simple step: find a quiet spot in your home, where you feel safe and won’t be bothered. Close your eyes, take a couple of deep breaths with both hands resting on your heart center. A good way to induce heart coherence is counting 5 seconds for the length of the in-breath and 5 seconds for the out-breath. Feel your mind slowing down, and bring the issue you’re struggling with to your mind’s eye. Notice whatever feeling might arise as you do this, without labeling it. Invite an energy of honesty in your heart and simply say to yourself: “OK, this is how I feel about this issue”. If negative emotions arise, simply observe and keep saying to yourself “this is how I feel, and it’s OK”. Keep breathing consciously, releasing any resistance, maintaining a witnessing attitude. What you are doing is allowing the emotions to be manifested without resisting them. You are practicing surrender. Emotions are energy in motion, they need to move in order to change. When we resist them, we are introducing the conditions for energy to be blocked in our system. When we allow them, we create the conditions for energy flow, which will result in alignment, health and well-being.
