During a two-day meditation, a fellow student shared that he meditated every morning and evening, only to find that his legs still hurt, and the pain was severe, to the point of causing his body to shiver. This is very normal. Even if a person meditates for two or three hours every day, their legs will still hurt during intensive meditation sessions. What should we do when our legs hurt then? We all know the solution is to ignore it, let it hurt, and that we should continue with our method, pretending the leg belongs to someone else and is not our concern. That’s easy to say, but when your whole body starts shivering and you begin to break out in cold sweat, it’s probably impossible to pretend the leg isn’t yours because the pain is very real and present in your own body. So, is there a way to mitigate the pain?
There is a way, but it requires some time. From my own personal experience, there is a way to make your legs hurt less, and that is to practice more! It might sound like I’m stating the obvious, but it really is just that. When I first became a monk, my muscles and bones were very stiff, and when I crossed my legs, they formed a V-shape, with my knees far off the ground. With such a condition, before entering the monastic university, I surprisingly completed an initial seven-day meditation retreat. That retreat was devoid of any meditative joy; there was only one word to describe it: pain! At that time, I thought, do I really want to become a monk? I heard that after ordination, you have to meditate frequently, could I end up dying of pain in the meditation hall? Later on, I thought it was still worth becoming a monk and that I should give myself a chance.
When I lead morning and evening meditations, we always conclude with a massage because the process of massaging is very important. Massaging can release the stagnant energy in the body, leading to better sleep and helping with leg pain. The most memorable moment from my first meditation retreat was waking up one morning to the sound of the wooden fish. Although I had woken up and was still lying in bed without getting up, I suddenly realized to my surprise that my legs were still in pain! I felt that something bad was going to happen — I was still lying in bed and my legs were already hurting, so it would be even worse later on! Actually, it was because I didn’t know about massaging at the time, so the pain accumulated from the previous day continued after sitting down again, and by the next incense stick, the pain had doubled. So, that meditation retreat was truly agonizing. Massaging is very important; it not only helps us sleep better but also releases the accumulated, blocked energy, making the next sitting period a bit more comfortable.
So, how do we deal with the pain? In fact, there are no shortcuts; doing something specific won’t make the pain go away. That kind of pain gradually intensifies; it’s a constant, dull pain that’s quite different from something like a headache. Therefore, when it comes to leg pain and enduring it, I have quite a bit of personal experience because I’ve been through that pain. First of all, we need to change our mindset; if our legs are in pain, it’s definitely because our muscles and bones are too stiff. If our muscles and bones are stiff, we should stretch regularly, as stretching is quite beneficial for our overall health condition. Even if our muscles and bones become more flexible, meditating can still be painful, just not as intense.
In theory, the best way to deal with it is to ignore it: the pain is its own, and I won’t bother with it; I will continue with my method. But what if the pain becomes so intense that I can’t use my method and can’t help but pay attention to it, what do I do then? You shift from your original method (which might be counting breaths, reciting the Buddha’s name, etc.) to observing the pain: observe how intense it is or what kind of sensation the pain feels like.
Actually, “pain” is merely a label that we use to describe it. Once, while meditating, I noticed a subtly warm sensation encircling my ankle. This warm feeling gradually intensified, even becoming somewhat scorching and swollen. I slowly observed it, and it kept changing until I suddenly realized, “Ah! This is leg pain!” This is the leg pain I usually experience. From its inception, I watched it grow increasingly intense and then suddenly realized it was just a shift in thought. Before I identified it as pain, I was merely observing it with curiosity, experiencing a sensation there without the word “pain” coming to mind. “Pain” tends to have a negative connotation, but having pain doesn’t necessarily mean suffering. Pain can also become pleasurable; it really depends on our thoughts, on how we choose to perceive it.
So here’s a suggestion for everyone. When facing pain, not just leg pain but also back pain, waist pain, and so on, how do we deal with it? If we can ignore it, then ignore it. When it becomes too intense, to the point where we cannot help but attend to it, then just observe it. If in observing it becomes even more painful, what do we do? Just stretch the leg! Once you stretch it out, the pain goes away. However, we also need to understand that when our legs or body are in pain, it’s actually our energy channels at work. This is a process of adjusting our body. Once we stretch the leg, change the position, this process is interrupted, meaning the healing process for our body is also halted. Next time, we should try as much as possible to experience it, ignore it, and allow this process to complete. It’s a necessary process, a process of adjusting the body.
