Hello and welcome to this short meditation intended to help you reduce suffering.
The feeling of suffering will look different for everyone.
It might be stress or anxiety,
For example,
Or anger,
Frustration or even fear.
But you don't have to identify or label the feeling.
If you're suffering,
Then this meditation could help you.
In a few minutes,
I'll share with you just one question that you can take away and ask yourself whenever you feel suffering is present.
There are many things that can cause suffering,
And the suffering can manifest in a number of ways,
In the form of thoughts,
Feelings or physical sensations in the body.
It could be thoughts about the past,
The future,
Or worries about a conversation you've had or that you're going to have.
It could be feelings of nervousness,
Unease or jealousy.
Or you could experience it physically,
With tension in the neck,
Shoulders or even your jaw.
These are just some of the ways that suffering can present itself.
The root cause of suffering can also be categorised in various ways.
It could be a strong desire to achieve something that always seems just out of reach,
Or the desire to obtain or own something not already in your possession.
It could be a judgement you've made about someone,
Or simply the desire to be right in an ongoing argument or debate.
It may be that we're comparing our lifestyle,
Home or job to that of someone we've seen on social media.
A lot of suffering comes from comparison,
Thinking that others have it better than us,
And that can leave us feeling inadequate.
Whatever the cause of our suffering,
We continue to suffer because we ruminate on the causes.
The more we ruminate,
The more we embellish the stories that we're telling ourselves.
The stories we've attached to the suffering.
All of these possible stories involve attachment.
Whether it's attachment to an idea or a feeling or even a person,
That is where the suffering lies,
With the attachment.
Freedom from suffering starts with letting go.
The question that I'm about to share will hopefully help you to reduce suffering.
It's a simple question,
But it can be incredibly effective when asked regularly.
The tricky part is remembering to ask it,
But with time,
Patience and practice,
You'll find it comes to you easier and more frequently.
If you're not already in a comfortable position,
Please make yourself as comfortable as possible now.
Whatever that means to you is absolutely fine.
And let your eyelids gently close.
Let's start with just bringing the attention to the breath,
Without trying to change anything,
Force anything different.
Just watch the inhale.
Watch the exhale.
Check in with your jaw.
Is your jaw relaxed?
If not,
Let your jaw be nice and loose.
And back to the breath.
Now I want you to bring something to mind that's been causing you to suffer,
However small it may seem.
And I want you to ask yourself this one question.
What am I attached to?
What am I attached to?
And just watch with curiosity what comes up,
What answers appear.
There's no right or wrong.
There's nothing else to do in this moment.
Just ask yourself,
What am I attached to?
This simple question can help you pinpoint the cause of your suffering.
So let's just spend a minute or two with that question,
What am I attached to?
What am I attached to?
If we acknowledge that attachment is a great cause of suffering,
Then to let it go is to set ourselves free.
For the next minute or two,
On each exhale,
Each out breath,
Let go of that attachment.
You don't need it.
It's not serving you.
Letting go will set you free.
Now just a few more breaths.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes,
Come back to the room that you're in,
Taking your surroundings.
Please take this question with you,
Or come back to this meditation as often as you need to,
To remind yourself of the practice.
Asking yourself,
What am I attached to?
Identifying it,
And then letting it go.
I'd love to know how you get on with this.
Please let me know by leaving a review,
Or sending me a message from my profile.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
I'll see you soon.
Thanks.
