Welcome to this meditation.
In this meditation we will move towards a difficult situation,
Which is often a new approach of dealing with a difficult situation.
So first of all,
Before we start,
I would like to ask you not to choose the most difficult situation in your life.
So not the most challenging or traumatizing or overwhelming situation,
Just choosing a situation that brought emotion,
But something we can practice with.
And also knowing that you always have the option to return to the breath or to step out of the situation,
To step out of the meditation.
Now that said,
Come into a comfortable seated position,
Closing the eyes.
And on the inhale,
See if you can bring the shoulders up,
And on the exhale,
Relaxing them back down.
Doing this a few more times,
Inhaling,
Bringing the shoulders up,
And exhaling,
Rolling them back down.
And exhaling as you bring them back down.
And then see if you still want to move a little bit to get into the right position.
And then start to lengthen the spine,
Coming into this upright position.
Inhaling to lengthen from the sit bones all the way to the top of the head,
And exhaling as you relax the shoulders down.
And then starting to breathe more consciously.
As you scan through the body,
Noticing if there's any muscles that you're currently contracting that you can just relax.
Starting with the muscles in the face,
The eyes,
The jaw.
Re-relaxing the shoulders,
Bringing your awareness to the hands.
And see if you can relax the hands,
Noticing the hands touching the surface,
On whatever they are positioned.
And then moving down towards the belly,
Softening the belly,
Feeling the touch of the sit bones on whatever you're sitting on.
Relaxing the legs and the feet.
And then noticing your body sitting here as a whole,
Breathing.
Now bring your awareness to the breath,
To the point in the body where you feel the breath the most.
Following the rhythm of the breath in this point.
On the inhales,
Noticing the body expanding and flourishing,
And on the exhales,
Noting the body contracting.
And you might still notice the mind wandering.
Maybe there is a lot of thinking,
Or maybe it is more calm in the mind.
And whenever you notice a thought,
Just noting it and coming back to the breath.
Directing your attention to the part in the body where you feel the breath the most.
And before we move towards the difficult,
I would like to share just a few points to reflect on.
Often when we experience a difficult situation or a challenging situation or moment in our lives,
We tend to want to move away from it.
We could do this by removing ourselves from the situation completely,
By distancing from the situation,
So making more space between yourself and the situation,
Or by avoiding the situation,
So trying not to move towards it or get into it.
So these are all natural tendencies of reactions towards something difficult or challenging.
And in mindfulness we learn that there is also a different approach,
Which is to move towards a difficult situation,
To explore it.
So in this meditation I would like to invite you to explore this and investigate the situation with this open mind and attitude.
Exploring this new way of dealing with a difficult in an open way,
Seeing it as new terrain.
And also see if you can notice subtle or even strong tendencies or sensations to want to not do it,
Not do the exercise or to want to move away,
Not think about it,
And then just observing this in this friendly and gentle way,
With a soft and friendly attitude.
Now bring your awareness back to the breath,
Following the rhythm of the breath in the body.
And now see if you can bring to mind a difficult situation,
Memory or moment.
This could be a stressful moment,
Something that brought sadness or anger or another kind of unpleasant emotion,
But also as mentioned before,
Not choosing the most difficult situation in your life.
So just something that challenges and brings emotion,
But not overwhelming.
So see if something comes to mind or arises in your awareness.
Without needing to complicate or needing to think about it for too long,
Every situation is alright,
We can practice with it.
So just see what comes to mind.
And now allowing this situation to come to the forefront,
So moving towards it step by step,
Allowing you to expand in awareness.
Noticing where you were,
What your surroundings look like,
Who you were with,
Expressions,
Allowing the situation to become more alive.
Just softly and gently moving towards it.
You can notice what kind of feelings were present in that moment,
What kind of thoughts,
So what was your thinking in that moment.
What were the emotions triggered by the thoughts or triggered by the moment,
What kind of emotions did you experience in the moment.
And as you allow the situation to become more vivid,
Notice it unfolding in your body.
Just noticing what kind of bodily sensations become present when moving towards the situation,
Where in the body do you feel it.
And then moving towards this point in the body and softly breathing towards it.
Softly inhaling and exhaling,
Breathing towards this sensation.
Opening up and softening towards the sensation,
Surrounding the sensation with softness.
Maybe even saying to yourself,
It's okay,
Let me be with it.
Softening and breathing towards the sensation.
And then allowing the situation to move towards the background again,
So releasing the situation,
Consciously letting it go,
And coming back to the breath.
To the point in the body where you feel the breath the most.
Following the rhythm of the breath,
The body moving as you inhale and exhale.
And see if you can re-relax any muscles that may have tensed up.
Just scanning the body as you hold your awareness at the breath.
Now I would like to invite you to bring the situation back to the forefront.
So going back to the situation,
Allowing it to rise in your awareness.
Allowing it to become more vivid again,
So softly,
Gently moving closer to the situation,
Noticing any kind of tensions or tendencies to not feel like it or want it or wanting to push it away.
With a gentle attitude,
Moving towards it,
Again noticing where you were,
The surroundings,
Who you're with or maybe by yourself.
And allowing the situation to become more vivid,
Expressions,
Emotions,
What kind of thoughts were you having in that moment.
What kind of emotions were present,
How did you feel in the situation.
And as you're holding the situation in your mind,
It will slowly unfold its effect in the body.
And then observe what effect it has on the body,
Where do you feel it most.
Once you've found the place in the body where you feel it most vivid,
Breath there.
Breathing softness towards it without trying to change it,
Opening and softening towards it.
Surrounding the sensation with softness and maybe even saying to yourself,
It's okay,
Let me be with it.
Pulling and softening your attention at the point where you feel it most.
Breathing and softening.
And if these difficulties now no longer draw your attention,
You can go back to the breath,
But also if it's still drawing your attention,
Go back to the breath.
So releasing the situation,
Allowing it to move away,
Let go of the situation,
Moving your awareness to the breath,
The point in the body where you feel it most.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Following the rhythm of the breath.
And continuing to do so until you hear the sound of the bell.
And when you hear the sound of the bell,
Blinking the eyes open and taking some time to come out of the meditation.
And taking some time to move into the next part of your day,
Taking care of yourself.
You will now see the Neil Edwards Thegrated
