Welcome to this 30 minute turning towards the difficult meditation.
This is a sitting meditation so please find the seat that works for you.
You could be sitting on the ground or maybe on a meditation cushion in a cross leg position.
The back is straight,
The shoulders tuck back and the head is balanced on top of the spine.
If you prefer you can also sit on a chair.
The feet are flat on the ground,
The legs are parallel and the back is away from the back of the chair so that your spine is self-supporting.
The hands can be placed on the knees,
The laps,
Palms facing up or down.
And if you have found your position then you might want to gently close your eyes.
If you prefer however you can also let the gaze fall unfocused on the floor a short distance in front of you.
The intention of this practice is to soften into allowing and accepting the moment to moment experience especially if unpleasant.
We'll move the attention first into the breath and the body then into the unpleasant,
The pleasant and the neutral aspects of our moment by moment experience.
And finally we are coming to open awareness.
We are practicing bringing a calm,
Open,
Accepting and kind attitude towards whatever is there for us in each and every moment.
And when we are ready we are starting now with this meditation.
So simply arriving in this meditation,
In this moment by becoming aware of our breath right now.
Can you notice how the air enters our body and then leaves our body?
This repeats over and over.
So simply really paying attention now to how the air is in constant exchange with our body.
Also becoming aware of our body,
How we are seated here on the chair,
The floor,
The meditation cushion and simply sensing where gravity leads to pressure points,
Where our body makes contact with the ground.
Now combining breath and body,
Simply arriving in this meditation,
In this moment.
And from this groundedness we now venture out into gently turning towards the unpleasant aspects of our experience.
So maybe there are unpleasant thoughts,
Emotions or sensations.
And if so,
Simply acknowledging them and being with them for this moment,
For this breath.
And if there are no unpleasant aspects in this moment,
Then see if we can simply be fully present to our moment-to-moment experience.
If however,
There are no unpleasant aspects in this moment,
Then see if we can simply be fully present to our moment-to-moment experience.
If however,
Unpleasant aspects are present,
Perhaps saying to ourselves,
Worry is here,
Unpleasant,
Pain is here,
Unpleasant,
Sadness is here,
Unpleasant,
Difficult emotions are difficult emotions are here,
Unpleasant.
And then maybe saying to ourselves,
Soften,
Soften or allow,
Allow.
Maybe breathing into the unpleasant sensations and breathing out of them.
Just being with what is.
And in case there is resistance,
Is it possible to soften into it?
And when the mind has drifted off into the past or the future,
Noticing this and bringing our attention back to this moment.
Maybe grounding ourselves in the breath and the body and then bringing our focus back onto the unpleasant aspects of our experience right now.
So what's here that's unpleasant?
Unpleasant.
And if any sensations,
Thoughts or feelings become too difficult or too overwhelming,
Then we can simply let go of them and ground ourselves in our body,
Our breath.
Those are our anchors.
We can rest here as long as we need to.
And when we feel safe,
We can venture out again and simply observing this moment and focusing on the unpleasant aspects and seeing if we can simply allow them to be here.
Observing them from a distant point of view.
Moving onwards now and exploring any pleasant experiences.
So allowing the unpleasant to fall into the background of our awareness and allowing in the pleasant.
We don't have to invent anything.
It's already here.
So what are the things that feel pleasant right now?
Maybe we are saying to ourselves warm hands,
Pleasant.
Feeling of calm,
Pleasant.
Quietness in the room,
Pleasant.
Sensations of air against the skin,
Pleasant.
Gently practicing allowing the pleasant,
Absorbing it.
And if there are no pleasant sensations for us right now,
That's okay.
Simply staying with the breath,
The body and the present moment experience and practicing allowing things to be as they are.
What does this moment feel like right now?
Maybe we are saying to ourselves,
I don't want to be here,
I don't want to be here.
What does this moment feel like right now?
And maybe we are caught up in thoughts or emotions,
All the pilot has taken over,
That's normal.
Becoming aware of this and then kindly but firmly coming back to my words,
To this meditation on the pleasant aspects right now.
No need to invent anything or to look for it.
It's already here.
This can be very small or subtle,
Pleasant aspects.
When we are ready,
Moving on now and noticing the neutral aspects of our experience,
Maybe aspects that we haven't noticed before.
So what can we notice with all our senses that's here,
But that's not pleasant nor unpleasant but simply exists?
Maybe the taste in our mouth.
Or the sounds.
Or the feelings of my fingers against the legs or the air or fabric.
Or maybe the temperature in my coughs.
Simply becoming aware of what's available right now,
That seems to be neutral.
No need to invent something,
Simply bringing a calm and broad awareness of the unfolding of the present moment.
And when it feels right,
We are now moving on and practicing opening up to the whole of our experience.
So becoming aware of the unpleasant,
Pleasant and neutral aspects of our experience,
Maybe the taste in our mouth,
That seems to be neutral,
Maybe the feelings in our hands,
Maybe the becoming aware of the unpleasant,
Pleasant and neutral aspects of this moment.
Simply practicing being with the totality of our experience,
With a calm attention.
There are neutral aspects,
Pleasant aspects and unpleasant aspects.
And is it possible to simply be with all of them,
Allowing them to be here?
And having an open awareness.
Is it possible to allow our experience just to be?
No need to change or fix,
Practicing holding it all in a gentle and allowing awareness.
And if the mind has wandered,
Gently and kindly bringing it back to the breath,
The body.
And ground ourselves and when you are ready,
Opening up once again to the whole of our experience.
What's happening right now?
And is it possible to soften any resistance?
Just to make space for what is and allowing this moment to be as it is.
Maybe noticing how unpleasant and pleasant experiences,
Thoughts and emotions arise,
Stay a while and then dissolve.
Noticing the ever-changing nature of experience itself.
Simply observing the nature of the experience.
And as we slowly draw this practice to a close,
Bringing our attention and focus back to our anchors,
So becoming aware of our body sitting here,
Of our mind,
Of our thoughts,
Of our so becoming aware of our body sitting here,
Breathing.
Can we feel how our body touches the ground,
The cushion,
The chair?
Can we sense how the air draws into us and out of us?
Being fully alive and present.
Now expanding further out and also noticing sounds.
Sounds within us.
Sounds in the room but also sounds outside the room.
What would our body shape look like from the outside?
Also becoming aware where in the room we're sitting.
And then bringing some movement into the body.
Maybe starting to move a little bit in the middle of the body.
Into the body.
Maybe starting to move our head from side to side.
Moving our shoulders or maybe circling our legs or feet,
Hands.
Just doing whatever movement feels good to you right now.
And then gently opening the eyes and fully coming back to the room.
The turning towards a difficult meditation is now complete.
