Turning Towards Difficulty

This guided practice is typically offered as part of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapies (MBCT) programmes. It offers guidance on turning towards difficulty (suffering) with kindness and curiosity.

Transcript

So settling into a sitting position and becoming aware of your posture.

If it feels right for you,

Allowing the eyes to close and if not,

Just allowing the eyes to have a soft gaze on the floor.

Perhaps coming away from the back of the chair so the back is upright,

Self-supporting.

The important thing is to find a position which supports alertness,

A sense of paying attention.

Tucking the chin slightly in so the back of the neck lengthens,

Allowing the shoulders to drop away from the ears and for the hands to rest gently in the lap.

Setting our intention for this practice.

Letting go of our normal doing mode where we strive to seek perfection.

Am I doing this right?

In this practice just allowing yourself to explore how things are right now.

Not looking to change them in any way but instead becoming keenly aware and curious of your experience in this moment.

During this practice which will last approximately 20 minutes,

I will guide you through different choice points,

Different options for dealing with difficulty.

So whether that's a feeling of discomfort in the body,

Perhaps a sensation related to your health or maybe it's a thought or emotion that's been troubling you.

And I'd ask during this practice to honour the wisdom of your old body,

Choosing what's right for you in each moment.

And as best you can bringing the spirit of curiosity to your expiration.

Starting now by becoming aware of the breath as it is in the body.

Perhaps you notice the sensations of breath at the tip of the nose as you breathe in or the back of the throat.

Maybe in the chest or abdomen.

Wherever the sensations of breath are most keenly felt,

Allowing the awareness just to rest here.

During this practice this will be the anchor.

For the next few breaths,

Following the whole of the in-breath and becoming aware of the sensations involved in the in-breath.

Perhaps noticing that when you breathe in,

It's cool air.

Maybe noticing the sensations where the skin meets the clothes.

Watching go now of the in-breath and bringing the awareness to the out-breath.

Following the out-breath.

As best you can exploring all of the sensations involved in this.

And next becoming aware of the whole column of breathing.

The in-breath followed by the out-breath.

And resting the awareness on the whole of the breath now.

And there's no right way or wrong way to breathe so we can let go of that expectation that we have.

And simply allowing the breath to be as it is.

Nothing else to do,

Nowhere else to be.

Simply following the breath.

Noticing the sensations of breath in the body,

Here and now.

Becoming really curious with the breath.

Seeing how each breath is a little different from the last.

Each breath representing a new moment.

And with the torch beam of your attention,

Really zooming in on a particular sensation of the breath,

A particular aspect of the breath.

That's of interest to you right now.

And perhaps now zooming out and becoming aware of the whole body breathing from the top of the head to the tip of the toes.

So recognizing that our attention can be both focused and detailed on a particular aspect of the breath or that we can hold a broad awareness of the whole body breathing.

And shortly the mind will begin to wonder if it hasn't already done so.

And as we've been practicing,

As we've been learning,

Even if the mind wanders away a hundred times with kindness and with curiosity,

Noting where the mind has gone and making the deliberate intention to escort the awareness back to breath each and every time.

This breath,

This moment now.

Letting go of awareness of the breath or allowing it to fall into the background.

And next becoming aware of sensations in the body.

Perhaps recognizing how sensations rise and fall away.

Recognizing how sensations change,

Are in constant fluxing.

And even if certain sensations persist,

Perhaps noticing whether there's variations in the frequency or intensity of certain sensations.

Recognizing this.

Becoming curious.

And in a moment I'll invite you to bring to mind something that's been difficult for you.

Maybe it's a sensation in the body.

As we've been sitting this way now for some time,

Quite often parts of the body can become uncomfortable.

So perhaps you choose to work with that.

And if there isn't something that's particularly uncomfortable for you now,

A sensation,

Perhaps bringing to mind a circumstance,

Maybe a thought or emotion that's been troubling you of late.

It doesn't have to be,

And perhaps for now it shouldn't be the most difficult thing.

But something that you're willing to work with,

Something that you're willing to explore in these next few moments.

So whether it's a sensation,

A thought,

An emotion,

A circumstance,

Dropping into the body and locating where in the body there is some tension,

Bracing or discomfort.

Sustaining in the body the area of difficulty associated with this.

And the first option available to us when working with difficulty in this way is if the difficulty can be eased with a gentle shift in posture,

Which is sometimes the case,

Setting that intention and deliberately becoming aware of all of the movements and sensations involved in this gentle shift of posture.

So that we're folding this movement into our practice rather than being a separate part of our practice.

And the second option available to us when working with difficulty in the body in this way is that recognizing that we can come back to the breath,

The anchor of the breath,

Marshaling our attention to the breath and resting here.

And throughout this practice that is available to us,

That is an option available.

Choosing to place our attention on the breath.

And the third option if you're willing is to gently move into the area of greatest intensity in the body.

Perhaps using the breath to guide your awareness into this part of the body.

Doing so in a gentle,

Compassionate way,

Exploring the edges first of this discomfort,

This tension,

This holding,

This bracing.

Perhaps on the in-breath saying opening and on the out-breath softening.

And we're not looking to change this experience but instead to explore it with kindness and with curiosity.

Moving right into the area of greatest intensity.

Let me be open to this.

Because it's here now,

Let me be open to it.

Seeing the detail of sensation involved.

Perhaps there is some change in the frequency or intensity of the sensations.

Maybe it's not just one sensation but a whole host of different sensations that make up this discomfort,

This difficulty.

Remembering to breathe,

Often we can hold our breath.

And again moving back into and exploring this difficulty.

Breathing in,

Breathing out from,

Opening and softening.

Breathing out.

Perhaps becoming aware of our tendencies or our patterns to react to difficulty by ignoring,

Distracting,

Suppressing,

Pushing away.

And exploring what it's like to just allow for now,

These next couple of moments to allow this to be here.

Not looking to change it but because it's here,

Allowing it to be here.

And turning towards rather than away from this discomfort.

Becoming curious of this experience.

And so now letting go and bringing the awareness back to settle on the breath.

Bring the whole of the in breath and the whole of the out breath.

And perhaps also acknowledging whether this is your first time or your hundredth time practicing this particular meditation that you've been willing to explore.

Something that's distressing or uncomfortable for you.

And what a great deal of commitment and willingness that takes.

And in the last couple of moments of this meditation,

Imagining that at the top of the head there's a blowhole,

Similar to that of a dolphin.

So as you breathe in,

You're drawing the breath in through this blowhole,

Down through the head,

Neck,

Chest,

Torso,

Abdomen and down through the upper legs,

Lower legs and out through the feet.

Being playful with this rhythm of breathing,

So on the next in breath,

Breathing in from the feet,

Up through the legs and out from the belly,

The chest and out through the top of the blowhole.

And as we begin to move out of this practice,

In the next moments of your day,

Perhaps asking yourself the question,

How can I best look after myself in this next moment?

Making any gentle movements or stretches that are necessary to wake the body up again after this meditation.

Reviews

Thank you 🌸

Thank you for the lovely relaxation meditation.
Namaste