Take a few moments to settle into a comfortable,
Alert position for your practice.
Let the feet or legs and sitting bones be grounded into the floor or surface beneath you.
Start through the crown of the head,
Perhaps roll the shoulders up and back and down.
Let the palms rest gently on the legs and allow the tongue to relax and drop to rest in the mouth.
Notice if you're holding tension in the forehead or shoulders or belly and do the best that you can to relax those areas.
And gently bring your awareness to your natural breath wherever it is most present for you.
Notice its temperature,
Depth,
Speed,
And texture.
Allow your awareness to ride the waves of the breath,
Rising and pausing,
Falling and pausing,
Rising and pausing,
And falling and pausing.
Continue to follow the breath,
Allowing your awareness to shift to your heart center.
You might bring your palms to rest there,
Experimenting with a level of pressure that feels supportive to your practice.
And if you've made it this far,
You're probably feeling ready to work with some difficult feelings.
Know that it's okay to change your mind and opt out at any time.
Take care of yourself first.
Outrage,
Shock,
Anger,
Resentment.
It's a normal human reaction to being harmed or to witnessing harm,
Whether directly or through the media.
It is uncomfortable,
Even painful,
And while it is our human nature to try to avoid uncomfortability and pain,
We are inevitably unable to do so.
It finds us and it jars us into the harsh reality of our often unfair and inequitable human experience.
And then if we are privileged,
We have a choice to stuff it down,
To numb it and bandage the wound with distractions,
Or to sit with it,
Understand it,
Befriend it,
Accept and integrate it and allow it to inform who we are and the action we take.
Our emotions are not separate from thoughts.
Our emotions offer us important information about ourselves and our place in the world,
Even the most challenging emotions,
If we are ready to listen.
Perhaps you are outraged about something in a personal relationship or at work.
Perhaps you are outraged about hate and violence and war.
Perhaps you're even feeling some guilt because you cannot repair the harm that was done or because you feel like you did not do enough to stop the harm from happening in the first place or because you've done so much to try to make things better and that harm still happened.
I hear you and I see you and I feel it too.
Sense into your emotions in this moment,
Naming as many as are relevant to you.
Rage,
Grief,
Fury,
Resentment,
Guilt,
Sadness,
Heartbreak,
Frustration,
Contempt,
Resentment,
Despair,
Hopelessness,
Grief,
Shame,
Anguish,
Suffering,
Sympathy,
Empathy,
Compassion.
Be curious.
Note what combinations of emotions are present within your outrage.
And sense into your physical body,
Noticing what sensations are present there.
Perhaps areas of pressure,
Tension,
Constriction,
Heat,
Tingling.
Perhaps the body is crying or shaking.
Just notice,
Not trying to adjust or stop anything the body is experiencing,
Just being present with that raw and authentic emotion.
Perhaps adjusting your hand placement to support and comfort the emotional and physical sensations you're experiencing.
Do the best that you can to stay present with whatever is coming up for you,
Continuing to breathe as best you can.
And perhaps sitting with your outrage today,
Bring some degree of clarity,
Some deeper understanding of your feelings,
Of yourself,
Perhaps even some wisdom to inform your thoughtful response.
And maybe it did not,
But that is okay.
Sitting with difficult emotions is hard and takes time.
Just opening to the emotion itself and listening is an accomplishment.
Your meditation practice is building a foundation.
As you no doubt know well by now,
This is not an escape from reality,
But an invitation to live more fully in it with presence,
Grace and wise action.
It is not doing nothing,
But rather it is cultivating the presence and wisdom necessary to be able to take right action.
As you're ready,
Gently allow your awareness to shift back to the body resting on the surface beneath you,
Becoming aware of the space around you.
And if your eyes were closed,
Gently allowing them to open to your environment.
I leave you with this quote by American author and Unitarian minister,
Edward Everett Hale.
Edward has long hung over my desk to remind me to stay present when the path feels too daunting.
I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be peaceful.
Thank you for sharing your practice with me.
