The Problem With Meditation (And How To Overcome It)

Meditation has profound healing potential but we need to be trauma-aware. In this extract from my recent livestream, we explore the practice of mindfulness, through which I've learned to stay present with and embrace intense emotions, instead of avoiding them.

Discover trauma-sensitive mindfulness and how it can be instrumental in our personal healing journeys. Find out why time alone may not heal trauma and how gentle reintegration is crucial. Explore somatic exercises and the integration of different meditation practices for healing.

I invite you to join me and uncover practical insights on using meditation as a powerful tool for healing and personal growth.

Transcript

There is a problem with meditation that teachers often don't talk about,

Which is why you may find it hard.

Here's some ideas that I hope can help.

First of all,

Meditation is awesome.

We develop the ability to observe our thinking.

So many of us have thoughts like,

I'm rubbish at living,

I'm not good enough,

And how do we respond to that thinking?

Ah,

You shouldn't be anxious,

Or maybe trying to ignore the thoughts and geeing ourselves up.

I'm amazing.

Meditation offers a different option,

Which is to simply observe the thinking.

Thoughts ultimately are just an energy arising in our awareness.

If we can develop the ability to just observe,

Not identify with,

Not fight,

Then we can just allow that thinking to go.

Really powerful.

There's a lot of freedom for you to find there,

But you'll know that your painful thoughts,

They repeat.

They are patterns,

They're habitual.

And so it could be that every day you're trying to observe the same painful thinking,

And that's a lot of energy and tension.

And it could be that then you just give up on your meditation practice.

And so this is where going a level deeper can be really helpful.

And this is therapy,

And not just therapy,

But honestly and openly,

Vulnerably expressing your truth,

Your heart space,

What you're feeling with somebody that you trust.

Because that gives you the support to go a level deeper,

To understand why do I have these thoughts?

Maybe there was a traumatic incident when I was younger,

And you can go to the source of that pain.

And that is where true healing is possible.

And so,

Like in many things in life,

And as the key word,

It's not meditation or therapy,

Both work beautifully together.

And your wisdom journey and my wisdom journey is developing the ability to know when to investigate thinking and try and heal it,

But then also knowing when to just observe the thinking,

Let it go,

And come back to the present moment.

Reviews

Very inspiring!