No Feeling Is Final

This meditation is a reminder that things are forever changing and suffering occurs when we lose sight of that. We forget that to feel is to be alive. So instead of despairing, join me in this meditation as we learn to embrace our experience. Inspired by Rainer Rilke: "Let everything happen to you, beauty and horror, just keep going, no feeling is final."

Transcript

Hey,

It's Doug here.

This meditation is inspired by a quote.

Let everything happen to you,

Beauty and terror.

Just keep going.

No feeling is final.

So often we run toward pleasure and away from pain.

This seems like an obvious way to live.

But by doing this we miss out on a whole section of our life.

The present is the present.

Sometimes it's pleasurable,

Sometimes it's painful.

But as Shakespeare said,

Nothing is good or bad,

But thinking makes it so.

So instead of us trying to pass judgment and framing our experience,

Can we instead just experience it?

To feel is to be alive and being alive is a gift.

So join me as we start to unwrap this gift.

In full.

Start in a comfortable seat.

Back up straight.

Dignified posture.

Sitting up tall,

But not rigid.

Begin to relax into the seat.

You can bring your eyes to close or keep them open with a soft gaze at something unmoving.

Begin by just focusing in on your breath.

Another way to say this is get curious about this experience.

What does it feel like to breathe?

What does it really feel like?

You can note how the sensation occurs in the body.

You may even note where in the body it shows up the most.

The nostrils,

The back of the throat,

The chest,

Or maybe the belly.

And maybe somewhere else altogether.

Take a moment now and try zero in on where you feel the breath the most.

As you do so you may realize that there's a plethora of feelings that come with the breath.

And those change between the inhale,

The slight pause between,

And the exhale.

The breath is in this continual transient state,

Constantly changing.

With it,

The series of sensations that come with it change too.

Stay with those sensations as they change from inhale,

Through that slight pause,

To the exhale.

As you do so you start to cement your experience in the present.

Not hanging on to what's been or what is to come.

Just noticing what's happening right here,

And right now.

Bring your focus now into the body and the sensations that may show up.

Now feel free to interpret that as you wish.

As long as you're feeling it right now in your body,

Then it's totally valid.

If that seems a bit vague,

Sometimes it's easy to think about things in terms of pressure,

Temperature,

Or tingling.

You may even feel an itch or a breeze.

So as you scan your body,

Become aware of these sensations.

As a good starting point,

You can feel what it feels like to sit down.

How does that seat feel underneath you right now?

How does the pressure of your body pressing into the seat below you feel?

And can you be more specific?

Can you feel exactly where you feel that?

It can also be useful to start at the bottom of your body and work your way up.

Noticing how your feet feel.

Any places of pressure or temperature.

Any tingling,

Any itching.

Then move your way up the body.

To the calves,

The shins,

The upper legs,

The groin,

The bum.

Into the torso,

Down both arms.

And finally into your neck,

Head,

And face.

As you let your consciousness go to all these places,

It's like you're illuminating all these areas.

Receptive now to whatever feelings show up.

Can you notice the sensations that occur here?

In your body?

Just like with the breath,

Find the place that's most prevalent first.

And let the mind settle in there.

Get curious.

Experience.

Feel.

Remember,

All sensations are relevant here.

If you feel it right here and right now,

Then it's relevant.

Just get curious about the sensations you feel and embrace them.

No judgement.

Just observation.

Now you may notice that what's prevalent changes.

A sensation that started out very strong may have now dissipated.

It may have been replaced by a thought or maybe another sensation elsewhere in the body.

For now,

Stay with the body and if a new sensation becomes more prevalent,

Simply go there.

Experience this new sensation with curiosity and give it all of your attention.

You may notice the sensation changes.

If so,

Notice how.

Again,

We begin to become aware of the transient nature,

Even with sensations.

What started out as a sensation that you could not stop thinking about,

Now dissipates into the background.

Maybe as you realize it's dissipated,

It comes back.

Again,

Changing.

Repeat this as many times as you need to.

As you keep this open awareness of your body and the sensations that pop up.

Exploring them.

Getting to know them.

Opening up this dialogue with your own body.

No,

No doubt.

During this time together,

Your mind has also been called to certain thoughts.

Let's turn our attention over to the brain now.

As a thought comes up,

Become aware of it and get curious about it.

Not as a portal to the future or to the past,

But rather as an object.

What does this thought feel like?

Where does it exist?

What is it?

How do you notice it coming up?

And as you do so,

Notice what happens to it.

Does the tribe pull you into another world?

A world of fantasy?

A world of memory?

A world of planning?

And can you instead just see it for what it is?

A thought?

As you give it your full attention,

Again notice what happens to it.

Does your mind try to replace it with another thought?

And if it does,

Feel free to let that first thought go and see what this new thought comes up with.

It may happen very quickly.

Some thoughts may repeat themselves.

Again,

Resist the urge to go into the future or the past and just notice what thought is coming up in your mind right here and right now.

Get curious about what it's like to have these thoughts.

Do certain thoughts start to link in with the body now?

Do they make you feel certain ways in your body?

Again,

Become aware of this.

Resist the urge to avoid them if they're something that isn't particularly comfortable.

And resist the urge to stay with them if they're particularly pleasurable.

Just see them for what they are and keep this open awareness of what thoughts are coming and going in your own mind.

As if you were spotting different shapes and clouds,

As you notice them continually shifting across the sky.

Lastly,

We can bring the same awareness to our emotional state,

Noticing how you feel right now.

Become curious about how that feels.

What is an emotion?

How does it feel inside of your own body?

Is there a particular physical sensation that goes with it?

A heaviness,

A lightness,

A pain,

A freedom?

Get to know this emotion.

Give it all your attention.

Once again,

As you give it all your attention,

Notice what happens to it.

Does the intensity stay the same?

Does the feeling stay the same?

And now open up your awareness to everything we've covered so far.

Your breath,

Your body,

Your thoughts and your emotions.

Don't go looking for anything in particular,

But with all these places illuminated,

Just notice what brings itself out.

Become aware of it and notice it just for as long as it's interesting to you.

Paying particular attention to how it changes.

As we see through this meditation,

Things change continually.

It's easy to feel like the feelings we have now will always be there,

But it's simply not the case.

For that reason we should embrace them,

Good or bad,

Painful or pleasurable.

It's the ultimate way to show gratitude.

Embracing the feeling.

Let everything happen to you,

Beauty and terror.

Just keep going.

No feeling is final.

Namaste.

.

Reviews

Thank you. Very helpful .. Just wish your voice ws a little louder as I struggled to hear it

Wonderful meditation on change!

Very wise … and a familiar SA accent, I think 🙏🏻

Absolutely wonderful. Thank you. Seriously.

The coming and going of waves, behind, soothing and ... not final! Thanks for sharing.