More aware of pain/emotion

[Mindsfull]

We often hear about beginners feeling more sensitive to physical symptoms whether it's physical pain or strong emotions and over time I'm assuming this changes?

I've just watched a great lecture with Mark Williams and it was really annoying because early on he stated how

"'mindfulness makes us more aware, people may have come to mindfulness as we are already acutely aware of our brooding, depression, anxiety or physical pain. So how is making yourself more aware going to help? We try hard to get rid of these things so why open the door to something you may have already closed the door on? So that's what I want to address tonight."

But he never explained it or come back to this topic. Is there anyone that can point me in the direction of anything online articles? Videos? Your own experiences?

As I do think this is something that comes up a lot and I've practiced on and off now for a couple of years. I think I've noticed more than ever that mindfulness makes us more aware of difficult symptoms/emotions etc and would like some input on this.

[JonW]

'We try hard to get rid of these things so why open the door to something you may have already closed the door on?'

Because what we resist persists, as a rule. I'd recommend Finding Peace In A Frantic World by Williams and Penman who is very good on turning towards difficulty.
Cheers,
Jon

[Mindsfull]

Thanks Jon.

Sorry if it wasn't clear in the original post (or if It makes any difference for that matter) That part you quoted is what Mark Williams actually said in the lecture and I was really hoping he would go into a lot more detail with it.

[Yayom]

In the case of emotions, I can imagine that if you explore them through awareness, the need for you to get rid of them may disappear. Awareness can help us to accept what we find and from that point we 'unlock' the option to choose what to do with it (including doing nothing with it). I suppose mindfulness can help us to realize that the key to deal with many of our pains (be it physical or emotional) is in our own hands, especially if we want to get rid of them.

[JonW]

Well said, Yayom.
I couldn't agree more.
All best,
Jon