Part 2: Mindfulness Meditation for Difficult Times (meditation)

This meditation provides skills and practices to meet the challenges of these times with wisdom and compassion—by training the heart and mind to open to difficulties in our lives and in the world with acceptance and without judgment.

Transcript

This is a mindfulness meditation for difficult times.

As with any meditation,

You can begin by finding a posture that's comfortable and relaxed.

So it might be sitting on a chair or a cushion or a bench or it could be lying down.

Whatever your posture,

Whether you're sitting or lying down or listening to this walking slowly,

You might just take some moments to arrive and settle.

You could take some deeper breaths,

Filling the lungs,

Filling the chest on the in-breath and relaxing and releasing on the out-breath.

Inviting calm in as you breathe in and calm as you breathe out.

Breathing in calming the body,

Breathing out calming the mind.

And when you're ready you can let the breath settle into its natural rhythm.

Just let it be as it is,

In-breath and out-breath.

And you could just briefly scan your body and just see if there's any area where you might unconsciously be holding tension.

It might be in the face and around the eyes.

Often we build up tension in this area.

Just invite any area of contraction or tension or tightness to relax.

Similarly with the back of the neck,

The shoulders.

Imagine you're putting down something heavy that you've been carrying.

Relaxing the shoulders,

Letting any tension just dissolve and perhaps come down into the earth beneath you.

Maybe checking into the chest and the belly,

The torso area.

Where we often tighten up,

Tense up if we're under stress or busy.

So just inviting the chest and the belly to relax and let the breath come into a relaxed open belly.

Relaxing the arms and the legs and the feet.

Just being present,

Relaxed and alert.

You might find it helpful to invite a half smile to your face.

It can be helpful to think of a loved one or a dear friend or a pet.

And the smile can send a message of ease and calm to the brain and to the nervous system.

So relaxing,

Settling,

Just being here now.

Just pay attention to what's present for you right now.

What bodily feelings you're aware of.

What your mood or emotions are right now.

Is anything stand out for you?

Is there a heaviness or a tension,

Sadness?

Just notice what's present.

Maybe there's joy or peace or a sense of calm.

Whatever's here,

See if you can meet it with friendliness,

With kindness.

The Sufi poet Rumi speaks of welcoming the guests.

He says even if there are a crowd of sorrows who sweep your house empty of its furniture,

Still treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

So if that's a helpful image,

Just imagine whatever you're feeling is like a guest coming to visit and just meet it with as much kindness and acceptance as you can.

And you might find it helpful to use your breathing as a kind of home base.

Very helpful when the mind wanders into thinking and planning and ruminating to just have a place to come back to.

A focal point to return to.

So coming back to the breath,

Maybe the breath at the chest or at the nostrils.

And beginning again at any time.

So the invitation in the practice of mindfulness and mindfulness meditation is to open to whatever is arising in the body and the heart and the mind and in our experience with kindness,

With care,

With acceptance.

Not pushing away experience,

Not resisting,

Not trying to hold on to things that are pleasant,

Not spacing out,

But opening as fully as we can to this moment just as it is.

When we train our heart and mind in this way,

We strengthen our capacity to be with the everyday joys and sorrows and difficulties and we build resilience.

We build equanimity.

So just sitting with whatever is present for you right now.

Taking a moment or two just to be aware of whatever feelings and thoughts,

Sensations are here.

And you might think about something that's particularly challenging for you right now in your life.

It might be your personal situation,

Might be someone in the family who's having difficulties,

It might be a health condition or difficulties at work,

Or it might be the state of the world,

Things that are going on that you're worried about or fearful about.

And allow yourself to open to this situation with kindness and without identifying with a story about how it is.

You know the mind may think,

Oh this is terrible,

Bad things are going to happen.

See if you can stay with the direct experience.

Feeling whatever sensations and emotions are present and bringing awareness to your thoughts without believing them or identifying with them.

Notice how this situation,

This difficult thing that's going on for you,

How it feels,

How it lives in your body,

In your feelings and emotions,

In your thoughts.

Perhaps in urges and impulses.

And see if you can let everything come and go.

Imagine the difficulties that you feel,

Maybe tension in the body or a heaviness or a strong emotion.

Imagine that they're like waves coming,

Landing,

Ebbing and flowing.

And you might think of yourself as riding the waves of difficult feelings,

Difficult emotions,

Challenging mind states,

Riding the waves coming and going,

Ebbing and flowing,

Changing.

How is it to allow yourself to feel the bodily sensations?

Maybe there's some anger arises in you when you think about something,

Part of this situation.

Can you feel it?

Where is it?

Is it in your chest or in your face?

Can you allow yourself to feel the sensations?

Let them come and go.

Tightness or heat,

Pressure,

Pulsing,

Coming and going,

Riding the waves.

If you're concerned or worried about the world situation,

What if a particular law gets passed or a candidate gets elected or a party gets elected or about the larger national or global situation like poverty,

Climate change,

War and conflict.

See if you can bring awareness to whatever you're thinking.

See if you can distinguish your genuine concerns and fears from thoughts that might be scenarios of bad things that could happen.

And acknowledge the concerns and the fears and open to what's present in your body,

In your emotions,

In your feelings.

Allow them to come and go.

And if the mind moves into fearful stories,

Things that might happen,

Come back to the direct experience and allow yourself to feel it.

See if you can feel it without the narrative in the mind.

You might reflect on what would be a wise and compassionate response to your concerns,

Your fears.

Is there something useful that you can do to be involved,

To make a difference?

And if there is,

Make a commitment to do that.

And see if you can let any action you take come from a place of presence and openness to your experience.

Can your action,

Your engagement,

Come from compassion,

Including for those you disagree with?

You might reflect on how you're responding in your daily life to the events in the world,

As well as in your own personal situation.

How much information are you taking in in these difficult times?

You might find it helpful to titrate,

To take in whatever amount feels healthy and helpful.

Not pushing the world away,

But being discerning about what you are able to take in,

In a way that helps you stay resilient and connected.

So we'll sit quietly for a few minutes.

Just open to whatever is present for you,

Allowing yourself to feel what's here right now.

Recognizing what's here and allowing it to come and go in its own time.

The feelings,

The emotions,

The sensations,

Thoughts,

Impulses,

Urges.

Coming and going like waves of the sea.

I go among trees by way of the sea.

I go among trees by Wendell Berry.

I go among trees and sit still.

All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water.

My tasks lie in their places where I left them,

Asleep like cattle.

Then what is afraid of me comes and lives a while in my sight.

What it fears in me leaves me and the fear of me leaves it.

It sings and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes.

I live for a while in its sight.

What I fear in it leaves it and the fear of it leaves me.

It sings and I hear its song.

After days of labor,

Mute in my consternations.

I hear my song at last and I sing it.

As we sing,

The day turns,

The trees move.

I sing and I hear its song.

What I fear in it leaves me and the fear of me leaves it.

It sings and I hear its song.

I sing and I hear its song.

Reviews

So needed during this tumultuous 2024 election cycle, and wars overseas, and climate disasters, and the number of displaced persons growing mightily.

Excellent.

Thank you so much

Poetic , beautiful, calming journey to self care and love. Thank you.

Wonderful, thank you. 🙏🏽

Thank you so much for this meditation that touched my soul. As I sing or try to again, I must remember it will help me to move forward. Bless you precious blessing. So enjoyed your LIVE meditation this morning. ❤🧘🏼‍♀️☮

This is so timely. Sending you love, light, and gratitude Hugh.

Perfect meditation to help meet the challenges of these times with 'resilience and equanimity.' Thank you!

Beautiful, as always! 💕🙏🏻💕

It was awesome thanks Hugh

This is a beautiful and peaceful meditation. Very calming. Thank you.

That was wonderful- thank you!

Beautiful! Can you please let me know the name of the poem by Wendell Berry? Deep gratitude to you

Quite wonderful in contemplation of feelings and observation of emotions arising with “difficult” themes, often labeled by our mind

There's an interesting meditation to face moments of struggle. Thank you very much.

Beautiful. Thank you

This helps. Thank you.

Third time around it is even more special - thank you for the guidance and the poem for our idividual song

Very good. It really helped to ease my mind. Thank you 🙏🏼

That was wonderful and most helpful!! Thank you 🙏