The Pleasure of Discomfort

There’s a delicate balance between finding what brings us happiness & pleasure and what causes us discomfort & pain. If we don’t do enough during the day, we might feel rested, but if we live that way for too long, feeling good begins to not feel so good. We need the discomfort of growth like soreness that comes after exercising to be able to appreciate rest.

It’s possible to overdo it on either end.

There’s pleasure in discomfort & pain in happiness, such is the balance

the balance of living & not

of success & failure

accompanied by fatigue & wellness.

It’s always our choice, and it’s always okay however we choose, but our choices carve out the path of our existence that aligns or deviates from the nature of our souls.

We feel into what feels good & what feels expansive and lead ourselves on our own journey where we surrender to ourselves -

we unknowingly surrender to those around us, falling into the paths and patterns created before us on the seemingly easier way that is not the way.

The benefits of pain & discomfort

Life begins on the edge of discomfort.

When we’re not progressing, we’re regressing.

AND we need comfort and moments without progress to continue because the more discomfort we experience, the more stability & safety we also need to have. Without this foundation, we’re likely to do more damage than growth when we challenge ourselves.

It’s also okay when we regress a bit because, as long as we continue along our path of growth and expansion, our moments of progress will always be greater. It’s actually necessary - we can’t sustainably keep going without rest, and if we do keep going, that’ll naturally become a decline because our progress slows when we’re not working in our optimal state that comes after rest & relaxation.

We need to push ourselves to the point where we feel discomfort and sometimes a little pain, but we also need to be aware of when we need to stop because we’ve reached the maximum capacity of how much our body, mind, nervous system can handle.

The damages of rest & not doing enough

Rest & time to do nothing are beautiful things in moderation. They’re possibly the best in the world after meeting their counterparts of discomfort & pain - taking an entire day off to lie around all day after working hard all week can feel like heaven on earth!

But taking weeks off on end can make us feel tired & unmotivated too because we begin to need more rest after simpler tasks. We have to keep going, building endurance and strengthening our ability to hold more so that our moments of rest are that much more treasured.

Too much of a good thing is not so good.

Yoga is a perfect teacher of discomfort and rest as we work hard to flow through a series of poses to stretch and strengthen, following up our practice by collapsing into the mat with savasana. It teaches us to challenge ourselves in a healthy way that honors what we are capable of today and shows gratitude to ourselves for the progress we make by rewarding ourselves with rest.

Integration

Rest is rehabilitation for our minds and bodies, but it’s also time for integration of what we’ve been practicing. When our minds & bodies are in constant go-go-go mode, there’s no time for thorough processing - this can make doing too much actually slower than taking breaks.

We need integration and processing time just as much as we need to stretch ourselves in discomfort. The balance of how much each of us need to do comes with practice and self-awareness, and it changes as you do through your journey. It’s an imperfect process that asks you to be kind & patient with yourself, to honor yourself in moments of needing rest and challenge yourself in moments of resistance.

You’ll find your way many times.

You’ll lose your way.

You’ll find it again.

You’ll learn that even when you feel you’ve lost it, it’s never really gone, and even when it’s there, it’s somehow distant.

Book recommendations are books I’ve read that I felt drawn to share with you as I created this blog post. These are affiliate links from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases❤