Meditation Can Offer Help for Suffering Haitians
More than any event in the last year, the stories coming out of Haiti have reaffirmed two basic truths about life; 1. Life is suffering, 2. Life is beautiful. And yes, it’s a contradiction.
The harrowing statistics of devastation and death on a mass scale are surpassed only in their horror by the individual stories of loss – orphaned children and childless parents. At the same time, however, genuine acts of love, heroism and generosity spring forth every day, leaving our sense of despair mixed with one of inspiration and hope.
Holding all these emotions, particularly the painful burden of loss felt by the people on the ground in Haiti, can be an almost unbearable challenge. But amid all the aid and assistance work that has been going on around the disaster, there has also been support of an emotional nature going on quietly in the background. A tranche of volunteers have been delivering self help programs to relatives of the deceased. Their aim is to tend to the often invisible emotional wounds and groups of Haitians are benefiting from guided meditation. Dawinx Diclona, whose 14 year old brother died in the tragedy, took part in such a session in West Miami:
"I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulder, now it's like the load is a little lighter,'' he said.
Far from helping people to avoid the pain, meditation enables the pain to be felt deep within, but from a safe place – a place of calm and security. Resisting the pain only increases it in the long run, so the aim is to unleash it inside and let it be felt. Then as the pain is gradually faced, the sufferer realizes that it won’t kill him or her. And that’s when the healing starts and an inner growth blooms. It’s not easy or quick, but it works.
Exercises of this nature are a valuable tool for all of us, and there are many variants taught in self help programs around the world and on the web. The truth is that no one in the world has a life that is immune from pain. The challenge of life is to channel its inevitable pain into ever deepening personal growth. Meditation is certainly one way to do that, as many who have suffered the Haitian tragedy can now attest.
Follow Technorati