Getting Comfortable With Discomfort With ACT

In this guided meditation led by Dr. Diana Hill, you will explore how to expand your comfort zone using acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). You will learn techniques to create more space and openness for uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Through specific exercises, you will practice letting go of resistance and building psychological flexibility, allowing you to move towards what truly matters to you even in the presence of discomfort.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Dr. Diana Hill. I'm a clinical psychologist and specialist in ACT. And in this meditation, We're going to expand our comfort zone. We're going to become more flexible with discomfort. In ACT, Or acceptance and commitment therapy, Psychological flexibility is your capacity to move towards what's most important to you, Even when obstacles show up. Inner obstacles like thoughts and uncomfortable feelings and sensations, You stay open, Engaged, Aware, Present, And moving towards what you care about. Let's get started. Go ahead and find yourself in a comfortable position. You can do this lying down or seated. If you're seated, Place both feet on the floor and really press your feet into the floor. Lengthen up the back of your spine so that you'll feel grounded and centered. If you're lying down, You can really press your body into the floor for a moment and feel the support of the floor underneath you. And then let go and surrender, Fully supported by the ground underneath. This body, This being, Holds so many things, Holds thoughts and feelings and sensations that keep on changing and moving. And sometimes they're quite beautiful and wonderful, And sometimes they're quite uncomfortable and distracting. And what we're going to practice today is creating more space and openness for that which is uncomfortable. And we do that because when we create more space and openness for that which is uncomfortable, We use less of our energy fighting it. There's so much lost energy, So much effort that goes into resisting. When you let go of resisting, You free yourself up. You free up your mind, You free up your behavior, You free up your heart to move forward and into your life with more engagement, More vitality. So I'd like for you to pick something that is causing you some form of discomfort in your life right now. It could be a physical thing, Mental thing, A relationship, A conflict. And I'd like for you to imagine that thing. And first, We're going to do the opposite of getting comfortable with discomfort. We're going to really, Really, Really go into lockdown mode. So I'd like for you to imagine that thing and really scrunch up your whole body, Hold your breath, Hate it. Let yourself hate it. I hate this. I want it gone. I want it out of my life. And notice how much energy you could put into hating this thing. Scrunch up your belly, Scrunch up your face, Scrunch up your shoulders. Let yourself hate it. And then practice breathing out, Letting go, Releasing around it, And letting it be. As you imagine this thing that's uncomfortable for you, We're going to practice more flexibility and openness and spaciousness by first just imagining that we could breathe around it, More and more space. So every single exhale, You create more space for this thing. You imagine this thing that causes you so much distress, And you may notice that you tense up, Breathe out, Create more space. I allow you to be here. I'm willing for you to be here. I make space for you, Not because I want this to happen, But because in making space for this, You free up your arms. You free up your heart. You free up your legs. You free up your behavior. Breathe out and make more space around this uncomfortable thing. So much space that the room is full of space for it. So much space that your whole life is full of space for it. There's so much space for this discomfort. And every time you exhale, You create more and more openness and spaciousness. So this thing that's uncomfortable to you, This thought or this conflict or this physical sensation may not change at all. It doesn't have to change for you to create more spaciousness around it, More flexibility with it. You could even imagine yourself moving through your day with this thing. It's like a backpack or a lead weight or a pain in the heart. But with more space, This weight, This pain doesn't weigh you down. You carry it with you. You can carry it up the stairs. You can carry it to the gym. You can carry it to work. But it's no longer a burden for you. You're comfortable with it. You may not like it, But there's space for it in your life. And you put all of your energy and effort into growing that which you want to grow. So imagine carrying this thing about as you focus your energy and effort on things that you want to manifest in your life. Projects at work, Healthy relationships, Ways of being in the world, Eating behaviors, Movement behaviors, Things that matter to you. And you can watch yourself moving through your day even with this thing you don't like. There's enough space. For you to move freely. If you notice at any point in time that you begin to contract again, You can use your breath, A big long exhale to release and let go. Get comfortable with this discomfort. It may stick around for a while, But that doesn't mean that you have to stick around fighting it. You can be free of it, Even when it's here. Your freedom comes in letting go and welcoming it and then choosing to act from your heart. As we close this exercise, I'd like for you to think about one way in which you can act from your heart today, Even with this discomfort. One way in which you can demonstrate that you are comfortable with discomfort. Bring it on. You have enough space inside for all of it. And take action on that today. Prove to yourself that you can.

Reviews

Wow. Listening to this felt like hitting a breakthrough. I saw my discomfort shrink, becoming so small that I could visualize myself doing the hobby I haven’t been able to in months, I could visualize myself focused and engaged when I’m normally so distracted by my discomfort … I will certainly be using my breath to create space from here on out. Thank you for this guided meditation!