The Practice of Sitting with ... Comfort
- Jadzia Marek
- Sep 19
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 20
I love it when worlds collide. There’s a click in the mind—an extra spark of synergy—when two different traditions meet and illuminate each other.
Recently, I’ve been rediscovering the work of Rick Hanson, particularly his framework for “taking in the good.” His approach focuses on noticing and savoring good experiences when they happen for at least 20 seconds so the brain can build stronger pathways for joy, contentment, and resilience.
What struck me is how closely this resembles the yogic practice of setting bhava—an intention for the state of inner harmony and peace you want to cultivate during practice.
And when I say yoga, I don’t mean the glossy images of acrobatic poses, coordinated outfits, and perfect hair on Instagram. I mean traditional hatha yoga practice: a mindful, respectful way of reconnecting with the self, inviting more peace, and learning to regulate the nervous system.
In traditional hatha yoga, bhava is the quiet decision you make before practice. It’s about choosing the feeling state you’d like to embody—often peace, ease, or contentment—and holding it gently in awareness as you move. During gentle stretches and mindful movement, the practice becomes less about achievement and more about staying present with pleasant sensations, inviting them into every part of the body.
Both Rick Hanson’s framework and the yogic tradition remind us that lingering with positive experiences is an active practice. A practice that trains the brain and body to recognize safety, to soften into peace, and to grow more familiar with contentment.
But here’s the paradox: for many of us, it’s surprisingly hard to sit with comfort and ease.
So why is it so difficult to truly cherish moments of ease and calm when they arise?
Some possible reasons include:
Negativity bias of the brain: Evolution wired us to notice danger more than safety, so calm moments can feel unfamiliar or “not important.”
Cultural conditioning: Many societies value productivity and struggle over rest and receptivity, making stillness feel “lazy.”
Trauma or stress history: For people who have lived in high-alert states, relaxation may trigger discomfort or even anxiety.
Fear of loss: When something feels good, we may fear it won’t last, making it difficult to fully enjoy.
Internalized self-criticism: Feeling good can sometimes activate guilt, shame, or the belief we “don’t deserve” comfort.
Distraction and overstimulation: Our fast-paced, screen-heavy lifestyles pull us away from slow, embodied awareness.
Recognizing these barriers is the first step. The next is gently retraining the mind and body to receive calm when it arises.
Rick Hanson’s HEAL method offers a practical way forward:
Have a positive experience: notice even small moments of ease.
Enrich it: stay with it, notice details, make it vivid, let it grow.
Absorb it: linger for 20 seconds, allowing the feeling to sink in, allowing your body to soften into the feeling
Link it (if helpful): gently hold this good state alongside difficult feelings, letting the positive soothe the negative.
In yoga, this parallels setting a bhava—an intention to embody peace or contentment during practice, and returning to it again and again through breath and movement.
Both approaches remind us: sitting with comfort isn’t passive. It’s a practice. Each time we pause, notice, and allow ease to settle in, we strengthen our brain’s pathways for safety, peace, and resilience.
If this is something you’d like to explore more deeply, my upcoming workshop, From Scarcity to Enough - A Science-Based Workshop on Cultivating Abundance, offers a practical way to do just that. Together we’ll look at how scarcity shapes our inner voice and self-worth, and practice science-based tools that help the brain build resilience and a felt sense of “enoughness.”
You can read more about me here
You can book an individual session here
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