Yesterday I had a dentists appointment. I had a tooth that was cracked – actually split – right down the middle – and it was paining me. I needed a crown, he said – meaning, a procedure requiring local anesthesia – which I don’t like very much, not to mention all the drilling and such. Well, during yesterdays appointment, while in the chair, some of the benefits of meditation and yoga helped me.
Ordinarily, I’m just tense – waiting for that unexpected shot of electricity to slam through my jaw, when a part of a nerve that was supposed to be deadened, wasn’t. Yesterday, though, I set my focus to survey my body, and purposely breathe slowly and relax consciously when I noticed tension. There were several points in the procedure where, catching my muscles tightening up, I consciously relaxed them, as I deepened my breath. The result? Overall, a much better experience at the dentist, which ended with me free from neck and muscle pain.
Meditation and yoga is teaching me to do that – to survey my body, to breathe deep into uncomfortableness, to consciously relax. It helps much – as long as I stay tuned.
tao21st 