Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain
Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain Date / Time
So far today, have you brought kind awareness to your: Thoughts?
Heart?
Body?
None of the Above
Any kind of sustained experience pain—physical or emotional—can cause us to isolate and withdraw over time. Pain can be like a cocoon that separates us from others. Stuck in the cocoon, we marshal all our energy to deal with and mange the pain. Meanwhile, we may have little or few resources available for others. Through no fault of our own we isolate, and sometimes the cocoon is thick enough to keep others out. The handout here is intended as an exploration of how your cocoon of pain has affected your relationships and offers some suggestions for what you can do to start Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain to restore and re-establish connections with others.
Instructions: Reflect on the questions/reflections that follow. Remember that there are no wrong answers here. If you have been hidden in the cocoon for any length of time, it can be scary to reach out. Completing this handout is an act of courage on your part. It requires openness, faith, and trust to peek out of that cocoon, to tear open the walls that have held you in a difficult time. But no cocoon is meant to be permanent. Every butterfly must break out of its temporary home in order to fly free. Reflections: How long have you been in your cocoon of pain? What purpose did the cocoon serve for you? Did it serve a useful purpose of any kind?
How did the cocoon transform or change over time? Did it grow thicker? Was it darker inside? Was it more resistant to things outside it?
Get more free mindfulness worksheets, talks, eBooks and meditations at
mindfulness MindfulnessExercises.com
Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain How did being in the cocoon affect your relationships over time—home, work, friends, etc.?
What is your single greatest worry, fear, or concern about leaving the cocoon?
What relationships would you like to re-establish after your time in the cocoon?
What roles, if any, have shifted as a result of your being in the cocoon? (For example, a spouse might have had to take on more daily responsibilities as a result of her/his partner being in the cocoon).
Get more free mindfulness worksheets, talks, eBooks and meditations at
mindfulness MindfulnessExercises.com
Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain What is one, small, simple way you could reach out from the cocoon to a person you care about? Any idea is useful, and the more you can come up with, the better. (This could include anything like, a call, a kind touch on the shoulder, a smile, any act of caring, making a meal for that person, etc).
How can you use the small, caring actions and strategies mentioned above in a consistent way? It takes time to rebuild when you reach out of the cocoon! Have patience and persistence. How can you journal or keep track of your efforts at reaching out of the cocoon? Notice the results, too, and how it makes you feel to fly more freely.
Get more free mindfulness worksheets, talks, eBooks and meditations at
mindfulness MindfulnessExercises.com
Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain
thank you for your mindfulness practice
May I continue to look deeply into
my mind, my heart and body.
May I see things and meet things
AS THEY ARE
and may this clear and sustained knowing free me
FOR THE SAKE OF
ALL BEINGS.
Get more free mindfulness worksheets, talks, eBooks and meditations at
mindfulness MindfulnessExercises.com
So far today, have you brought kind awareness to your: Thoughts?
Heart?
Body?
None of the Above
Any kind of sustained experience pain—physical or emotional—can cause us to isolate and withdraw over time. Pain can be like a cocoon that separates us from others. Stuck in the cocoon, we marshal all our energy to deal with and mange the pain. Meanwhile, we may have little or few resources available for others. Through no fault of our own we isolate, and sometimes the cocoon is thick enough to keep others out. The handout here is intended as an exploration of how your cocoon of pain has affected your relationships and offers some suggestions for what you can do to start Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain to restore and re-establish connections with others.
Instructions: Reflect on the questions/reflections that follow. Remember that there are no wrong answers here. If you have been hidden in the cocoon for any length of time, it can be scary to reach out. Completing this handout is an act of courage on your part. It requires openness, faith, and trust to peek out of that cocoon, to tear open the walls that have held you in a difficult time. But no cocoon is meant to be permanent. Every butterfly must break out of its temporary home in order to fly free. Reflections: How long have you been in your cocoon of pain? What purpose did the cocoon serve for you? Did it serve a useful purpose of any kind?
How did the cocoon transform or change over time? Did it grow thicker? Was it darker inside? Was it more resistant to things outside it?
Get more free mindfulness worksheets, talks, eBooks and meditations at
mindfulness MindfulnessExercises.com
Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain How did being in the cocoon affect your relationships over time—home, work, friends, etc.?
What is your single greatest worry, fear, or concern about leaving the cocoon?
What relationships would you like to re-establish after your time in the cocoon?
What roles, if any, have shifted as a result of your being in the cocoon? (For example, a spouse might have had to take on more daily responsibilities as a result of her/his partner being in the cocoon).
Get more free mindfulness worksheets, talks, eBooks and meditations at
mindfulness MindfulnessExercises.com
Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain What is one, small, simple way you could reach out from the cocoon to a person you care about? Any idea is useful, and the more you can come up with, the better. (This could include anything like, a call, a kind touch on the shoulder, a smile, any act of caring, making a meal for that person, etc).
How can you use the small, caring actions and strategies mentioned above in a consistent way? It takes time to rebuild when you reach out of the cocoon! Have patience and persistence. How can you journal or keep track of your efforts at reaching out of the cocoon? Notice the results, too, and how it makes you feel to fly more freely.
Get more free mindfulness worksheets, talks, eBooks and meditations at
mindfulness MindfulnessExercises.com
Reaching Beyond the Cocoon of Pain
thank you for your mindfulness practice
May I continue to look deeply into
my mind, my heart and body.
May I see things and meet things
AS THEY ARE
and may this clear and sustained knowing free me
FOR THE SAKE OF
ALL BEINGS.
Get more free mindfulness worksheets, talks, eBooks and meditations at
mindfulness MindfulnessExercises.com
