Pain

You may well have experienced it already. But for sure, if you get some Headspace every single day, at some stage you're gonna experience pain. It might be a very fleeting sense of pain. And of course, the range is very broad. It might be just a bit of a headache one day. Or for some people, it can be really sort of heavy chronic back pain. One simple rule and it's a really important one, right at the very beginning to kind of take note of is if your pain arises every time you sit down to get some Headspace. So, if it finishes at the end of that session, in so much as you don't have it as you continue on with your day, that's okay. That pain is something that's part of the process. I'll explain how and why in just a moment. But as long as it's only for the period of that session, that's okay. If the pain arises at the beginning of a session and then continues throughout your day, that's something you might wanna be a little more concerned about. For sure, speak to your doctor about it. And just make sure that there's nothing kind of more serious there. Now, in terms of how you set yourself up, the posture that you're sitting, this is crucial when it comes to pain. Regardless of what the type of pain is. So when pain gets too intense, it can almost feel overwhelming. And the idea of sitting there, holding our posture in any way at all can seem sort of like a real challenge. So, if you have some kind of back pain or a type of pain that prevents you from sitting upright, then for sure consider lying down. The challenge of course, is the mind associates being horizontal with going to sleep. And therefore, it's much harder to maintain that gentle balance between focus on the one hand, relaxation on the other. And don't be at all surprised if you drift off to sleep. That said, it's a great alternative if you're unable to sit upright. The only thing I'd suggest is that if you do lie down, make sure you lie down on a firm surface rather than on a sofa or bed or anything like that. And you do it with your legs bent. So with your feet flat on the floor. And that will just help take the strain off the lower back. If you're sitting upright, you might just like to place a small pillow, cushion, or rolled up towel just towards the sort of the rear of your backside. Just so it tilts the hips a little bit. And that way, the body naturally kind of sits upright. You don't need to exert any effort or engage any muscles to do that. And likewise always makes sure that the head's not tilted too far back or too far forward, engaging that stretch reflex. And that it's just...