Welcome to this Guided Contemplation Mindfulness Exercise,
Guided by Leo Mazzel.
I am an art psychotherapist,
The author and teacher of a psychology,
Mindfulness and art integrated program.
I hope you enjoy the experience.
It is only by really tasting your experience of emotions that you get a taste of enlightenment.
To have an enlightened attitude is to be willing to be in that place within any experience,
And this does not mean only the ripe,
Sweet and pleasant,
But the raw,
Bitter and unpleasant experiences too.
Pohnlop Rinpoche says that in the process of uncovering our open,
Unfixated quality of our mind,
We have to be willing to get our hands dirty.
It is only by really tasting your experience of emotions that you get a taste of enlightenment.
To get our hands dirty means experiencing the emotion.
In other words,
It means tasting and facing it fearlessly.
We can never actually hear the message of awakening.
The only way out,
So to speak,
Is through,
Says Pema Chodron.
In this exercise called Introducing Loving-Kindness to Difficult Feelings,
We will invite challenging emotions and face them with kindness and compassion.
We will welcome and treat each guest honorably.
We will embrace our difficult feelings,
Our demands head on,
Whatever they might be,
Rather than suffocating these feelings,
These hard feelings,
These challenging emotions.
We will invite and face them with kindness and compassion,
Tenderly.
If you feel that you are not quite ready to do this sort of meditation,
I would recommend that you just leave and do another kind of meditation.
Settle in your usual seat or any other posture which you feel safe and comfortable.
You may close your eyes or leave them slightly open without focusing or anything.
Let's get in touch with our body,
With ourselves in the here and now.
Begin by taking three deep and nourishing breaths.
Breathe in,
Feeling the air touching your body wherever you feel it the most.
Breathe out,
Releasing the air and relaxing any tension in the body and mind.
Breathe in again.
You can silently say,
This is my breath,
This is my in-breath,
As you feel the air coming in.
And breathe out,
Mentally say,
This is my out-breath,
Feeling the air going out.
Once again,
Breathe in,
Feeling your presence inside your body,
Relaxing the mind.
And release,
Breathe out,
Feeling your out-breath under your body,
Relaxing.
Try to feel your own presence in your body.
Feel yourself inside this body without making any judgment.
Rest your awareness inside your body.
Feel what's happening inside your body.
What bodily sensations do you feel inside your feet,
Your hands,
Your face,
Your whole body,
Your whole body?
Now,
Let's bring in the feeling of loving kindness.
You may bring in to mind someone who makes you feel lost,
Someone who cares for you,
Someone whose kindness and generosity you immensely admire.
It could be a dear friend,
A partner,
A spouse,
A spiritual leader you admire,
Your pet,
Anyone that naturally gives rise to the feeling of respect and admiration for their kindness towards others.
You can also bring up the innocent smile of a baby,
Anyone who comes up to your mind first,
You'll be fine.
Think of this person and open your heart.
Think of this person and open your heart.
Let his or her kindness,
Purity,
And wisdom touch your heart and feel your heart spreading this beautiful feeling all over your body.
While thinking of this person,
Having this person in your mind,
Try to feel the energy of kindness that this person brings to you.
Try to feel the energy,
This lovely energy spreading all over your body.
Try to feel it inside out,
Your body.
Now,
Invite something that's been bothering you recently.
It may be something you are afraid of,
Something you are fearful about.
At first,
Try to invite something that's not too heavy or too difficult for you to handle with until you get used to this sort of practice.
You may be concerned about something you said,
Something someone said about you,
And you do not agree or find it to be unfair,
Or something you believe that will happen in the near future,
Something you are anxious about.
Try to stay with whatever feeling comes up and gently acknowledge it.
And in a kind tone of voice,
You smile and say,
Oh,
Here you are,
Dear fear,
Welcome.
Let this feeling of fear,
Or whatever feeling has come up,
Be here with you.
Try to feel where in your body you feel it more strongly,
Where in your body it feels more evident.
This feeling arising is clear for you.
You can feel it in your body.
You may feel it in your belly,
In your chest,
In your throat.
You may feel it in your whole body.
Wherever you feel it,
Just try to be with it,
Acknowledging it with compassion and kindness.
Just let it be here,
And be here with it.
Now,
Bring back that dear,
Kind friend of yours who brings you this loving-kindness feeling.
Bait your heart with this feeling of loving-kindness your friend brings you.
Try to wrap up the feeling of fear with the feeling of loving-kindness.
Allow them to meet each other in whatever place this uncomfortable feeling is in your body.
Breathe in with the feeling of loving-kindness and compassion.
Introduce each other.
Introduce this challenging feeling to your heart.
Be there for it without making judgments.
Keep going back and forth in between those two feelings,
The difficult feeling,
The challenging feeling of fear,
Whatever it is,
And this beautiful feeling of loving-kindness from your friend,
One at a time.
Oh,
Here you are again,
Dear fear.
I respect you.
I embrace you with all my heart.
Try to notice your bodily response to this uncomfortable,
Difficult feeling for a short moment,
And then return your awareness to that loving-kindness feeling your friend makes you feel,
Trying to feel how your body responds to it.
Where in your body do you feel it?
As you locate it,
Try to feel its presence as it is.
Be there for it.
You are safe in here.
As you feel the presence of this uncomfortable feeling,
Introduce it to the feeling you have for that person you admire,
You respect,
You love.
Let them meet each other.
Keep doing that,
Going back and forth,
Inviting and nourishing the loving-kindness feeling from your friend and embracing your fear or whatever guest arise with your heart.
Smile and be gentle with yourself and your guests,
Your feelings,
Your emotions.
Every time you notice fear easing,
You smile and ask yourself,
Where in my body do I feel it?
Notice your body response and think again of that feeling of loving-kindness your friend brings you,
That beautiful loving-kindness feeling beating inside your heart.
Feel your heart being filled with it,
Expanded until it reaches that spot where your difficult feeling is dropped.
Look at the movement of the emotions in your body.
Look at them with compassion and kindness and feel their interaction.
Breathing loving-kindness from that friend you brought up at the beginning,
Breathe it into that place in your body you feel this fearful feeling,
Shouting.
Loving-kindness is a very powerful feeling.
Feel the joy of this feeling inside and all over your body,
Your heart,
Your mind.
Feel the interaction of this beautiful feeling of loving-kindness with that feeling of fear or whatever other uncomfortable feeling that may be present.
Embrace it as if wrapping up this feeling,
This uncomfortable feeling with the tenderness and compassion-kindness of the energy of loving-kindness.
Accept it and bathe it with the goodness of your kind heart.
Introduce each other gently,
Tenderly,
With compassion-kindness.
Feel the movement inside your heart and the movement of your body responding to this interaction.
Feel your heart beating with the feeling of joy,
The feeling of happiness,
The feeling of peace as you think of this dear friend you so love.
Feel your heart opening to loving-kindness,
Smile,
And thank your heart.
Thank yourself for facing your fears,
Your uncomfortable feelings with tenderness,
Love,
Kindness,
And compassion that you already have in your heart.
Smile and thank yourself for being brave,
For being here,
For taking this time to look after yourself.
Well done.
Many blessings,
My friend.
Thank you very much for letting me guide you in this meditation.
You take great care of yourself.
