Meditation for working with difficulties.
You can use this practice to work with difficult emotions or unpleasant body sensations.
Find a posture that is comfortable to you and we will start by checking inside your body and try to locate a part of your body that feels good to you right now.
Pleasant safe at ease neutral you can check out your hands or feet or legs let your attention go to this pleasant part of your body hands or feet or whatever you've chosen and see if you can rest your attention there feel it sense it can you notice any sensations in-breath let your mind relax a bit just noticing that part of the body and now there is something difficult that's happening for you difficult emotion or unpleasant physical sensation let your attention go to that now so it may be an aching in your shoulder or back maybe a headache or it could be a sense of sadness anxiety anger where do you feel that in your body can you identify a sensation that is associated with the unpleasant can you identify an emotion that is associated with the difficult noticing it observing,
Noticing it for one moment feeling it make sure to breathe by observing we're practicing non-judgment and perhaps even some kindness to the difficult and now return your attention back down to that area that felt at ease,
That feels good your hands or feet or legs and just let yourself stay there for a moment noticing feeling it sensing it relaxing maintaining the mindfulness at the same time giving yourself a break from what could be potentially overwhelming to feel this is the practice making sure to breathe and now once again returning your attention to that part of the body that feels unpleasant the body ache or pain or the emotion the sensation of the unpleasant emotion in your body see if you can notice anything perhaps vibrations in your chest clenching the belly tightness in the jaw nothing to do right now,
Just notice breathe sit with it let whatever is there be there for now and now bring your attention again back down to this pleasant or neutral part of the body or pleasant emotion perhaps hands,
Feet the area you chose relaxing there staying present and alert feeling the safety the connection in that place and now let yourself stay connected to this neutral or pleasant place let's see if we can practice to cast what we might call a side long glance at a difficult area in the body or difficult emotion is it still pleasant?
Is it possible to feel connected to your body in the area that feels good and yet now there is something going on that feels unpleasant and just let it be there keeping maybe 75% of our attention on the part that feels peaceful,
Neutral at ease still breathing and casting the side long glance at this difficult area again observing noticing what happens to it is it growing or shrinking or changing shifting into something else with curiosity becoming aware of whatever it is it's doing still breathing and now if you feel comfortable see if you can bring some loving kindness some kindness to yourself or whatever you're feeling right now physical pain emotional pain holding yourself with kindness and you're not the only one remembering our humanness so may we all be free from our pain and our suffering may we all practice to feel peace the meditation is now complete
