Being with unwanted experience.
In this meditation we are going to have a go at being with something that is going on in our life at the moment that we don't like.
It could be a relationship difficulty.
Perhaps you are having conflict with someone right now.
It could be that work is particularly difficult right now.
Or it could be a financial problem or a health issue.
You can choose any kind of difficulty for this practice.
But it's best to choose something that's not too distressing to begin with.
Try practicing on something moderate or relatively easy to work with.
And then as you get the hang of the practice you can include more difficult things as you go along.
As you will see I've included physical pain and other kinds of physical discomfort.
So you can work with any unwanted experience at all.
So to begin finding a posture that's comfortable and kind and supportive.
And closing your eyes if that feels comfortable.
And allowing your awareness to sink down into your body.
Scanning your whole body briefly to get a sense of the whole of it.
And as best you can giving yourself up to the gentle pull of gravity.
Allowing the chair or the floor to hold the weight of your body.
Noticing if you resist in gravity in any way,
There's any tightness or holding.
And if you can on the out breath see if you can let go a little of any holding or resistance.
And now resting your awareness on the feel of the breath as it enters and leaves your body.
Allowing the gentle rhythm of the breath to soothe you.
So now bringing to mind something that's happening in your life that's difficult.
That you'd prefer not to be happening.
What does that feel like?
Does the mind start to get busy?
Perhaps there's a sense of struggle or the mind looking for a solution or a fix or a way out.
And as best you can just softening around the edge to think about this issue to try and solve it.
And instead allowing yourself to simply feel it.
Dropping beneath thought to the felt sense.
Perhaps you can locate the feeling in your body,
Maybe in the throat or the chest or the belly.
And if you're able to do this,
Just being with that feeling.
Gently exploring it,
Being curious about it.
Breathing with it.
If the unwanted experiences physical pain or discomfort.
Gently taking your awareness there and letting it rest on that discomfort just for a little while.
If that feels difficult,
You can always come back to the breath.
So exploring the sensations of pain or discomfort.
What are they actually like?
Is it hot or tight?
Is a sense of holding or sharpness,
Being curious?
Are the sensations constant?
Are they change?
Are they hard,
Solid?
Is there a softening?
Can you lean into the pain?
Much as you might lean into a strong wind that you're walking into.
It could be that you have some other unpleasant physical experience such as tinnitus or fatigue.
See if you can simply be with whatever it is that you're experiencing.
Just moving gently towards and exploring.
And if it becomes too intense,
You can always back off and take your awareness somewhere else.
And come back to the breath.
Come back to sensations in the hands or the feet.
Moving back to exploration when you're ready.
You might find that you have strong resistance to being so close to this experience.
That's okay,
Resistance arises.
And we can try leaning gently into resistance itself.
What does resistance feel like?
Where do you feel it in the body?
Exploring this feeling,
This sensation.
You might find it useful to imagine that you're breathing into the experience on the in-breath.
And then having a sense of letting go on the out-breath.
Not letting go of the experience,
But of your resistance to it.
Breathing with the difficult experience.
And as best you can,
Let go of any resistance on the out-breath.
And broadening your awareness to include the breath.
And the movement of the breath in the chest and the belly.
Broadening your awareness to include the whole of the body.
And gently opening your eyes when you're ready.
