Meditation For When You're In A Bad Mood

Some days, we're just not in a good mood—and that's part of being human.

This meditation offers a gentle space to pause and meet whatever you're feeling with curiosity instead of resistance. Rather than trying to force yourself to feel happier or more positive, you'll be guided to notice your mood with openness, exploring how it shows up in the body and mind while practicing self-kindness and acceptance.

Together, we'll investigate difficult emotions with the mindset of a curious observer, recognizing that moods, like the weather, naturally shift and change over time. By making space for our experience instead of pushing it away, we often discover a little more ease and freedom.

This practice is designed for everyday moments when you're feeling down, frustrated, worried, or simply "off." No meditation experience is needed.

Please note that this meditation is intended for general wellbeing and is not a substitute for mental health treatment or medical care.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. This is Jen, And I'm so glad you're here. Today I'm going to be guiding a meditation. For when you might not be in the best mood. And as maybe you can guess, I decided to. . . Focus on this today because I'm not in the best mood today. And I almost decided not to record anything today because I felt like I wanted to show up. In a different way from a different headspace. I wanted to record when I felt energized and happy and positive. And then I had to remind myself that We don't need to be. Any certain way. To meditate. We just have to show up. So today I encourage you to sit with me. However you are, With whatever feeling or mood you're carrying with you. And we can practice getting curious about that feeling. Accepting our feelings as they are. And using that as a way to move through our day with a little more kindness. I do want to mention. This meditation or really any meditation is not meant to take the place of medical care or therapy. So if you're dealing with a chronic feeling or mental health condition, Please know that meditation is not a replacement for that. I'm a big proponent of therapy myself. And meditation can sometimes complement that. But anyway, Just wanted to make a quick note about that. But if you are sort of having a run-of-the-mill bad day, Where maybe you're feeling just sort of down or sad. Or worried. Or whatever sort of negative emotion. Has popped into your head and your experience. This might be a good meditation for you. Let's start by getting comfortable. In a seated posture if that feels good to you today. Sitting upright but not too rigid. And if it feels comfortable, Closing the eyes. Or maybe softening the gaze. And just starting by noticing our breath. How is it today? Is it deep? Shallow. Fast or slow. Just spending a few moments noticing how it is. Not trying to change it. Or breathe in any specific way. Just noticing. How is my breath in this moment? Now in the same way, We are going to Examine our mood. Not trying to change it. Or judge it. But just noticing how it is. Does our mood have a word? A label. Maybe there are multiple parts of our mood or our feeling. Are we worried? Sad. Angry, Just noticing what's here. It can also be helpful to. Imagine our mood. As something. Somewhat separate from us. We can imagine maybe holding it in our hands. Or placing it down on a table in front of us. So we can examine it. Almost like a scientist. Studying our mood. Is it big? Or small. Is it dull? Or is it sharp? Is it familiar? Or new. Does it have a color? Or a shape. If we envision. Our mood, How does it look? Just noticing. What is it like? We can come back to the body. For a moment, Again, Noticing the breath. How is it now? In this moment. Are there places in our body where we can feel our mood? Maybe a sense of heaviness. Maybe certain sensations in the stomach or the chest. Or maybe there's not much there in the body, And that's okay. What's in the mind? Are there certain thoughts? That we have popping into our head around this mood or emotion. Can we notice if we're pushing the feeling away? Can we notice if we're judging ourselves for having this feeling? Just noticing. The chatter of the mind. And how we talk to ourselves. Around the way that we're feeling. Might we be adding additional? Suffering, Or difficulty. To our experience by judging ourselves or pushing away this mood. Which likely is. . . Transient. Relatively common. Just part of our experience of being human, Moving through life. Can we notice? As we go through the rest of our day. Does the mood change? Does it stay the same? Is there space within this mood to still experience? Other things. Might we still be able to? Observe small joys. Or have small positive experiences even as this mood lingers? Is it all consuming or is there some space there? Noticing what's here now, In this moment. Remembering that moods come and go. Like the weather. Like rain clouds on a stormy day. It may look. Dark outside. But we know that the blue sky is still there. Above those clouds. Being human. Involves a whole range of experiences. Some days we may feel amazing. Happy and full of energy. Other times, Not so much. It's okay to be in a bad mood. It's okay to feel however we feel. Of course. How we interpret that feeling and how we put that into action. Especially as we engage with others, Is something that we want to be mindful of. But the feeling itself. Is not necessarily something that we need to push to change. And in fact, Often when we accept our feelings for what they are and accept our experience. That's exactly what can help that bad mood lift. In a moment, I will ring the bell three times. Signifying. The end of our practice today. Just remembering that. You do not need to be in a good mood. In this moment. You do not need to push away. Whatever feelings. You have. Whatever you've brought with you today is just fine. Thank you for your practice. You