jplewicke

In retrospect, in this provisional Sarno framework, it seems possible that the pain and unpleasantness of meditation was a subconscious reaction to really not wanting to meditate, subconsciously. Knowing myself, paying attention to something that I don't want to pay attention to breeds a high level of resentment, and meditation is the purified and crystallized form of that. I'll tentatively try meditating again and see if the tension returns, with this perspective.

That makes sense to me -- both directing attention and looking at your sense of self often can feel like the ultimate Ugh Field. TMI does have some good guidance about building the skill of directed attention gently... (read more)

I just wanted to note that MCTB-style insight meditation also draws quite heavily on the idea that we identify with muscle tension and that sometimes it feels like we're using muscle tension to make ourselves do stuff, or that our inner conflicts can be present in opposing muscle tension. The specific technique that you mention doing sounds kind of similar to a cross between Goenka-style body scanning and Tara Brach's RAIN technique (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Non-Identification).

I'd encourage both you and the other rationalists who're digging into methods for breaking your sense of self into interacting sub-agents to really consider reading MCTB before you start continually applying these sorts of techniques... (read more)