15:20

From Frustration To Freedom

by David Gandelman

Rated
4.8
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
42.3k

Time to release some frustration and return to your natural state of energetic freedom. In this practice, David connects us to a powerful energetic experience, creating a safe atmosphere for us to develop our natural spiritual abilities and tap into our creative potential.

FrustrationFreedomAwarenessInsightResistanceEnergySurrenderAmusementCompassionCreativityNeutral AwarenessInsight CultivationResistance ReductionSelf CompassionEnergy ShiftsSpirits

Transcript

Hey meditator,

Welcome.

Grab a seat.

Find your posture,

Your position,

Whatever works for you.

And let's get ready to let go of some frustration and move into the vibration and the energy of freedom.

So if you do find yourself in some frustration,

If you find yourself a little stuck,

Angry,

Irritated,

In resistance,

Then welcome to the human race.

So today we're going to explore three steps,

Three ways that's going to help us move from frustration to freedom.

So as you sit and you close your eyes,

Let's step right into the first piece.

And I want you to start by just slowing your breath down,

Relaxing your shoulders,

Easing any tension that you have in your body.

And notice right when you start to bring awareness into your own space,

It already starts to subtly shift.

Just that awareness brings a subtle shift.

So step number one is just neutral awareness.

That subtle awareness of our thoughts,

That subtle awareness of our feelings,

That awareness that doesn't judge.

When we find ourselves in frustration,

The first thing we do is judge ourselves or we judge someone else.

And that judgment's like dropping a stone into a lake.

It creates ripples.

It disturbs our energy.

So inside of frustration,

We often find resistance.

So you might be frustrated,

But then you also might find you're in resistance to being frustrated.

So as you sit here with me,

Can you allow yourself to be frustrated and let go of the resistance and the judgment towards it?

And just have a neutral awareness.

What is it like just to be aware of that frustration and not judge it?

Can you be aware of that frustration and just give it space?

Let it be there.

Invite it for a cup of tea.

Maybe you and frustration can watch a movie together.

Notice that your relationship to frustration is starting to change.

You're beginning to be there,

But you're beginning to say,

Okay,

I can accept that you're here and I don't have to be in so much resistance to you.

You might just notice how much resistance there has been.

Maybe that resistance extends to other people in your life.

Maybe at some point it just extends to everyone because you're boiling over.

Maybe as you're meditating,

Your face is just red,

Steam coming out of your ears,

Fire out of your eyes.

And that brings us to the second step,

Which is amusement.

Amusement,

A lightness,

A levity with what we take way too seriously.

And I know that might sound like a bit of a curveball while we're sitting here in meditation,

That I'm sitting still and neutral and now all of a sudden I'm supposed to be amused about something that's upsetting me.

But yes,

Can you bring some lightness and notice that it's probably not the end of the world?

And that your resistance and your frustration is probably greater than what is actually happening.

Sometimes we overreact,

Not you,

Other people.

Other people overreact,

You react just perfectly every time.

So I even invite you to put a light smile on your face.

Can you smile as you meditate?

Can you open your shoulders up?

Can you loosen up?

Maybe the entire universe is smiling at you right now going,

You can get it.

You're so close.

You've got this.

One of my favorite jokes of all time is what did the snail say when it was sitting on the back of the turtle?

And it said whoopee.

For us,

It's the biggest deal ever.

But from a macro perspective,

It might not be.

So with neutral awareness and some amusement,

We're starting to almost de-escalate our relationship with frustration.

And the thing about frustration is there's always some good reason for us to be upset.

We've gone over the argument dozens of times.

There's someone to blame,

Somebody else or ourselves.

There's always someone to blame.

There's always an argument.

So this brings us to the third part,

The third step of letting frustration go and stepping into energetic freedom,

Which is can you surrender?

We surrender the argument,

Even if we're right,

Even if someone did us wrong,

Even if things should work out and they're not.

Even if we dotted all of our I's and crossed our T's and have done everything right and it still didn't work out and we find it unfair.

Can you still surrender the argument?

As you start to relax here,

I'm going to introduce you to the third step of letting frustration go and stepping into energetic freedom.

As you start to relax here,

I'm going to introduce a bonus fourth step or fourth part here.

You get it for meditating with me this long.

And that is insight.

As the fog begins to clear,

As we stop fighting with ourselves and with others,

As we have compassion for where we are in our lives,

There's a space that opens up and in that space,

There's insight.

We see inside and maybe for the first time we recognize,

Oh,

I wasn't frustrated about the thing I thought I was frustrated about.

It was some much deeper emotional piece that I haven't been able to reconcile or wasn't aware of or someone at a distance that I love is in pain.

And I could feel that and didn't even know.

Or I can feel the frustration of the whole world because I'm sensitive.

Or this is just a wake up call to be more present,

To pay more attention,

To have more self-compassion,

To judge less.

And notice that energy doesn't shift by doing something.

Everyone is always like,

David,

Tell me what to do next.

That's not exactly how it works.

Energy shifts when your awareness shifts.

That's it.

You're sitting still in meditation.

You're fighting.

You're frustrated.

You're angry.

You can't pay attention to what I'm saying.

You're drifting and then out of nowhere,

Just something just turns.

An emotion is released.

Some kind of self-awareness is born.

And you can't force that.

But you can open the door,

Warm up some tea and invite it in.

This is an invitation for you to move from frustration to inner freedom.

And ultimately to recognize who is in charge.

Is it your resistance or is it that deeper,

Neutral,

Amused awareness that you were born with?

Take a nice big deep breath in and a nice sigh out.

And when you're ready,

You can slowly begin to stretch and open your eyes,

Come out of meditation.

If you want,

You can continue to sit.

I appreciate you being here with me,

Being open,

Listening to my terrible jokes and really making some progress.

From the bottom of my heart,

Thank you as always.

And I hope to see you next time.

Be well.

Meet your Teacher

David GandelmanBoulder, CO, USA

4.8 (3 129)

Recent Reviews

Kasey

August 17, 2025

Always a pleasure to meditate with David. His humor really did offset my frustration and make me be able to sit with it instead of resisting it. Thank you!

Sean

August 11, 2025

Thank you David, another good one. Maybe i substitue asumement with reflecting on the "oddity" of life, some of my daily, is just too heavy for the thought of amusement, but I think I underatand what you are doing...

Jenny

March 7, 2025

Loved this one. Took me from stressed out to smiling. Thank you!

Colin

February 27, 2025

David, tears rolled down my cheek as I felt freedom thanks you your meditation. Thank you. Colin

CC

December 10, 2024

So helpful, as always. Great jokes too. Thank you, David

Liz

October 16, 2024

Exactly what I needed today. I enjoyed the content & your warmly soothing voice. Thank you.

Bec

September 6, 2024

Mandatory listening for anyone that has a family a workplace a partner or a pet!

Melodie

June 13, 2024

Awesome! So helpful. Thank you 🙏🏼 * I enjoyed the jokes.

Cookie

September 25, 2023

Thank you! I was allowing outside influence impact me emotionally and you helped me get insight on this. Much appreciated 😊

Dawn

August 9, 2023

I loved the part about looking at my frustration in a light hearted way. It reminded me of how the Dalai Lama approaches challenges. With compassion, kindness, and his joyous sense of humor.

Nicole

July 21, 2023

Middle section is difficult- but excellent practice. Could laugh at myself and my friend frustration but the end thank you. 🙈

JCFOhio

July 13, 2023

Helped me see the reasons for my frustration. Allowing me to move on. 🙏🏻

Jen

July 6, 2023

Nope, still frustrated. Just kidding! Thus was very helpful for me on this problematic morning. Thanks!

Lucía

June 27, 2023

Soothing voice, great advice and corny jokes 🫶🏼 I was crazy frustrated before starting this meditation and ended it smiling!

Ralyn

March 20, 2023

Wow! Will bookmark this one. Great perspective. Still smiling about the snail and turtle.

Rosie

February 28, 2023

Thank you for this, your humour brought such lightness into the space. I love how I flowed through it with your guidance ❤️

Brian

January 16, 2023

Thus was just what I needed, thank you. BTW, I have always appreciated your humor ☺️

Tracy

December 8, 2022

Love the quirky sense of humor - always lightens my brooding mood 😉

Ember

November 26, 2022

Something definitely shifted for me in this meditation, especially after he said “surrender”

Raely

August 28, 2022

This really did give me so much freedom from my frustration. Also, I loved the snail metaphor haha. Thank you so much.

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© 2025 David Gandelman. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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