Types of resistance

[quantumspiral]

How do you differentiate resistance to your own emotions and experiences vs resistance you feel naturally to engaging in some kinds of activities (like working or exercising)?

It seems there's two levels to resistance- a naturally occurring emotional resistance, and then a resistance on a more meta level which you can have to emotions.

When the resistance is resisted it grows- when the resistance is accepted it diminishes.

Is there a way to distinguish these experientially? How similar are they? Perhaps they are completely different and I'm just using the same word to describe both

Edited August 5 by quantumspiral

[Sugarcoat]

I guess it depends in which situation it arises. So if you feel resistance towards an activity it will arise when you’re about to do it, and if you feel resistance towards an emotion it will arise when the emotion is about to arise maybe it’s that simple . Maybe I sound too obvious lol

[Keryo Koffa]

Both share traits but vary in focus and style.

Emotional resistance: Arises from dealing with the value of one's Identity, it's dramatic and the ego often obscures its origin

Activity resistance: Usually comes through gut feelings, fatigue, or annoyance, it's lighter but deceptive in its self-dismissal

[Rafael Thundercat]

When you a girl grab your dick and is about to suck it. Why you dont show resistance? If was a Bear doing the same why would you resist? In the end is running for pleasure and running away from pain, one you assume will give you life and other death. But what if the girl would end up cutting it out and the Bear would just blow it. I could come up with a ligther example but I used this to make explicit the urge for pleasure vs pain. 

 

[quantumspiral]

@Keryo Koffa Interesting- thanks for sharing. I can't say I've noticed these qualities

[quantumspiral]

@Rafael Thundercat lol very colorful illustration haha.

Pleasure and pain are certainly fundamental to the whole thing- I guess I'm just trying to get my internal mental framework sorted out for the 'resistance' that is encountered when doing various activities.

I think this resistance can come in 2 different flavours:

1. Negative emotion- This is any kind of emotion that naturally arises that tries to oppose action. It could be fear, physical pain, fatigue, doubt etc. These could be described as resistance, as they do 'resist' the action- but it's confusing to label them as such. It's better just to label them as negative emotion. The best way to greet these emotions is with acceptance and not resistance- then they tend to lose their power over you and dissolve. But the resistance to these negative emotions is a more meta level of resistance within a person

2. Resistance to the task itself- this is a more primary form of resistance. You're resisting the doing of the task itself, rather than the emotions it evokes. You can't accept your present reality of engaging in this particular activity. This usually comes from excessive focus on the results of the task- which can then lead to avoidance, either in the form of daydreaming / fantasizing about the result or trying to white knuckle through the task to get to the result. The best way to dissolve this kind of resistance to focus on the process intently with present focus and acceptance. Merge with the process if you will.

In essence, I do think these 2 categories broadly define what could be described as 'resistance' when doing any task. I think it's important to clarify this as unconscious 'resistance' is what stops people doing what they want actually want to do in life. Instead they act out their compulsions- which are just the reverse- unconscious positive emotion driving them towards it and unconscious negative emotion driving them away from something towards it.

I've explained this very poorly I think- I'll come back again to it when I'm better slept.

 

Edited August 7 by quantumspiral

[Keryo Koffa]

On 8/5/2024 at 9:23 PM, Rafael Thundercat said:

When you a girl grab your dick and is about to suck it. Why you dont show resistance? If was a Bear doing the same why would you resist? In the end is running for pleasure and running away from pain, one you assume will give you life and other death. But what if the girl would end up cutting it out and the Bear would just blow it. I could come up with a ligther example but I used this to make explicit the urge for pleasure vs pain. 

Jokes on you! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism 

17 minutes ago, quantumspiral said:

I think this resistance can come in 2 different flavours:

1. Negative emotion- This is any kind of emotion that naturally arises that tries to oppose action. It could be fear, physical pain, fatigue, doubt etc. These could be described as resistance, as they do 'resist' the action- but it's confusing to label them as such. It's better just to label them as negative emotion. The best way to greet these emotions is with acceptance and not resistance- then they tend to lose their power over you and dissolve. But the resistance to these negative emotions is a more meta level of resistance within a person

2. Resistance to the task itself- this is a more primary form of resistance. You're resisting the doing of the task itself, rather than the emotions it evokes. This usually comes from excessive focus on the results of the task- which inherently means you're not accepting your present reality. The best way to dissolve this kind of resistance to focus on the process intently with present focus and acceptance. Merge with the process if you will.

In essence, I do think these 2 categories broadly define what could be described as 'resistance' when doing any task.

@quantumspiral Let me try to summarize your models of "Negative emotion" and "Resistance to the task itself":

A meta-psychological counterbalance emerges emotions into experience. Awareness and understanding dismiss them.

A lack of engagement and long-term fulfillment creates cognitive dissonance. You overcome it through the Flow state.

Did that summary accurately capture it?

Edited August 7 by Keryo Koffa

[quantumspiral]

@Keryo Koffa Interesting analysis, perhaps! Not sure I understand enough about meta-psychological counterbalance and cognitive dissonance at the moment to say.

I'm really trying to come up with a model for acting effectively in the world- one which produces a high level of performance and results, while minimizing emotional friction. 

The model I have right now is to focus intently on the process itself (rather than the results) while maintaining a heightened level of present moment awareness which can both be used to immerse yourself more fully in the process and 'metabolize' negative emotions that come up along the way.

Most people act in completely the opposite way- obsessing about the result and resisting everything every single step of the way. This leads both to poor performance and emotional burnout.

Edited August 7 by quantumspiral

[quantumspiral]

Essentially, I feel like awareness, presence and detachment are transformative when applied to performance- and I'm trying to clarify that as best I can.

[Keryo Koffa]

@quantumspiral Those are good points. Everything's a balance. Flow state arises from focus and immersion.

Detachment from Outcome and a universally playful and exploratory approach are both highly beneficial.

As Leo once said, worry is useless (change what you can instead of worrying about it and don't if you can't)

Meta-Psychological = Psychology grappling with itself by building models and then learning itself through them

Counterbalance = Pendulum Swing | Evaluation of the Opposite Tendency | Ego-Backlash | Fear | Exploration

Cognitive Dissonance = Internal Conflict when holding two contradictory beliefs at the same time

Click the Image to upscale it

But you don't even need to read it

It's the whole format of the meme

The overall best (unspecific but universally applicable) meta-approach is to deeply understand the source of all conflicts.

Edited August 7 by Keryo Koffa

[quantumspiral]

@Keryo Koffa Thanks a lot for your elaboration. I'll have to spend a little time digesting all that- are there any teachers / books / resources you've found particularly helpful in understanding these concepts?

"The overall best (unspecific but universally applicable) meta-approach is to deeply understand the source of all conflicts."

This is particularly profound- I've heard Shinzen Young talk about how awareness and equanimity erases micro-conflicts in each of the six senses, letting them flow freely instead of like viscous liquid. It makes a lot of sense. 

With awareness, everything seems to flow much more effortlessly.

Edited August 7 by quantumspiral

[Keryo Koffa]

22 minutes ago, quantumspiral said:

are there any teachers / books / resources you've found particularly helpful in understanding these concepts?

Weirdly enough, that's a funny question for me at this point, I have hundreds on my mind but to choose any...

Every single one adds to the understanding of various developmental stages, through diverse mediums

I'd just recommend looking through personally significant concepts on Wikipedia and looking them up on YouTube

In the end, you will fall into a rabbit hole of content, each related to every other, an infinitely interconnected Singularity

@Rafael Thundercat is far more active in the exploration of psychology than I am, he'll surely have lots of recommendations

[Nilsi]

made me think about this gem:

 

[Lyubov]

I would be careful over analyzing 

you are creating resistance. Keep it at that.

now ask yourself why you are choosing to create resistance? Use self inquiry to get crystal clear on what you are doing and then see if it is authentically what you want to do and if it’s true. 

[quantumspiral]

@Lyubov

I think there is a clear distinction between negative emotions / physical sensations can flow naturally from certain activities and your own resistance to them. On some level- yes your own psychology may be setup in a way that is creating those negative emotions which can be uprooted.

But can you stop the feeling of physical exhaustion when doing an endurance run? The feeling of fear when starting a new endeavour you're not sure if it will succeed? The discomfort of having a tough conversation with a loved one?

Negative emotions and sensations will always arise in certain situations. Do we resist them, try to escape them and grasp for more pleasant, comfortable experiences? Or do we turn towards them and embrace them fully? That's really all I'm trying to say.

In the state of heightened awareness, I then like to clarify some intrinsic driving factor. This could be an intrinsic motivation, a mantra, a deep personal value, my own impermanence and expendability in the pursuit of my goals or spiritual purification. I like to imagine this as a 'flame' that is physically  located in the chest region of the sensory field.

I used this to reach levels of extreme endurance running quite a few years ago after reading "The Power of Now", but didn't have the awareness or conceptual understanding to clarify it.

The difference with this driving factor is that it's inherently intrinsic, not extrinsic (like winning a competition, making money etc)- intrinsic tends to be much more powerful.

This is just playing with awareness in the context of challenge- not pursuing higher states of consciousness.

Edited August 10 by quantumspiral