Working With Hindrances And Challenges To Mindfulness

Are you struggling with your meditation practice? Don't let the challenges we inevitably face during meditation practice become hindrances to development. In this profound practice, we learn how to use challenges of fatigue, arousal, clinging, anger, and doubt for spiritual advantage.

Transcript

Working with the five hindrances of mindfulness.

Bell Begin with a comfortable posture.

Next,

Reflect on your aspiration.

When you're ready,

Begin mindfulness of breathing.

Turn the attention inwards and rest the awareness on the breath as you experience the sensations at the nostrils.

Feel the cool air coming in and the warm air passing out.

Allow yourself to rest in a natural breath flow,

Paying attention to the subtle sensations as the inhalation exhalation occurs at the nostrils.

With each breath,

Allow the body to relax.

You can let go of any tension,

Stress,

Holding on,

On the out-breath.

On the in-breath,

You can imagine cool,

Calm,

Revitalizing breath energy entering in.

Let the mind come to one point and rest.

Deepen the breath into the diaphragm,

Creating a low,

Slow flow.

Let the mind grow comfortable,

Still and present on the breath.

It's natural during meditation to become distracted.

Typically,

There are five major hindrances to mindfulness practice.

Desirous attachment,

Anger or aversion,

Restlessness,

Dullness,

And doubt.

In this meditation,

You will learn to skillfully apply an antidote to reduce the hindrance and return to the breath.

Before you can apply an antidote,

One needs to recognize the hindrance in the mind.

So while meditating,

If you become aware of attachment and desire,

Then note that,

Recognize that,

Even label that.

It may be a fantasy,

It may be a pleasant memory,

A pleasant emotion that you're fixated on.

The first step is to recognize what is occurring in the mind in the present moment to distract you.

Being able to separate yourself from the actual process.

One of the antidotes to working with desirous attachment and lust is to contemplate the unpleasantness of the body.

Here,

You are balancing your view of the body's pleasurable attributes with those that are unpleasant.

Such as the fact that it's made of blood and tissue and muscle and bone beneath the beautiful veneer of the surface.

Even a moment of reflecting on the unpleasantness of the body can dissipate a fantasy,

A lustful passing,

And help you return to the breath.

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While meditating,

You may become aware of anger and aversion.

Anything from irritation all the way to rage.

You may be consumed with a fantasy or occurrence in the past.

You may be anticipating something in the future.

First,

Recognize this is occurring in the mind.

Identify it.

Label it.

Begin to separate yourself from what is occurring moment to moment.

Then you can skillfully apply the antidote,

Which is the great loving-kindness.

Once you've noticed that you become angry,

Recite the four stanzas of loving-kindness.

May I be well.

May I be peaceful.

May I be happy.

And may I be free from suffering.

Put each of those on your breath and do as many repetitions or cycles as needed for you to return,

Carefully,

Consciously,

To a calm,

Present-centered state of mind.

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The next hindrance might be dullness.

You might be aware that you're drowsy,

Low on energy.

Just recognize that the mind is dull and cloudy.

Once you've labeled and identified and begun to separate yourself,

Then you can apply the antidote.

And here,

One of the antidotes is to imagine a bright light.

Imagine there is a bright light in front of you,

Filling the space with light and heat and energy.

Continue contemplating this bright light until you feel more energized,

Until you feel more awake and you can return to the breath.

If you continue trying the bright light antidote to your dullness without success,

You may try opening your eyes,

Allowing some of the natural light to come in.

And if that fails,

You might try getting up and doing some mindful walking or mindful standing and then returning to meditation and continuing with the breath.

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Another hindrance is restlessness.

This is when the mind is constantly thinking,

Creating a sense of agitation,

Instability,

And frustration.

Here,

Just recognize that the mind is restless.

Don't create any more waves with judgment and frustration.

Recognizing that the mind is restless,

You can begin to apply the antidote of being mindful of the body.

You can move your mindfulness away from the breath and ground it in the feelings and sensations in the body.

For example,

Feeling your feet flat on the ground,

Your hands in your lap,

Your buttocks in the seat.

You might,

For example,

Be mindful of your heartbeat in your chest or your pulse as the blood flows through your veins.

This is just a point of reference to ground the mind from the distraction and the restlessness in order for you to return to the breath.

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The final hindrance is doubt.

A sense of uncertainty that might overcome you,

That prevents you from being mindful of the breath.

Here you might become confused as to what you are doing and why.

Simply note that this is doubt in your mind,

That this is confusion.

The labeling or the noting of the hindrance helps separate you from the experience enough to apply the antidote.

One of the antidotes to doubt is to begin to reflect on the themes of the Dharma,

For example,

The Four Noble Truths.

Allow yourself momentarily to begin to reflect on suffering,

The causes of suffering,

Freedom from suffering,

And the path to freedom.

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So just begin to reflect on the cause and effect relationship between your mind,

Body,

Speech,

And behavior.

Reflecting on the Dharma,

Reflecting on the Four Noble Truths,

Reflecting on cause and effect can begin to dispel some of the uncertainty.

It can begin to quell the doubt.

It can allow you to return to the breath without further agitation or confusion.

Also notice if you're not having any hindrance,

Perhaps the mind is settled,

Content,

And deep into the flow of presence-centered awareness on the breath.

If so,

Just recognize that,

That you're having a meditation free of any of the hindrances.

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So as we wind down the meditation on the five hindrances,

We can again return to dedication.

Reflect for a moment on your initial aspiration and commit any energy or insight that you've gained during the course of this practice to your ongoing study,

Reflection,

And meditation.

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Reviews

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Extremely helpful. Many words and antidotes to carry into daily life. Many thanks 🙏🏽

Excellent way to follow the guiding the different ways to understand and quieting
the mind .Namaste with blessing.

Concise and clear reminders, thank you! 🙏

I have been practicing for one year and have really been at the mercy of these hinderances. It is such a blessing to have an antidote. I am so grateful. 😌🙏🏼

Excellent thoughtful guidance. Calming, reflective and lasting. Thank you.

Wonderful journey 🙏

Beautiful. Just what I needed this morning. Thankyou💚🙏🏻

I really appreciate the long gaps of silence. Very peaceful.

So many meditations/talks let you know that distribution is expected however to have real concrete methods, beyond return to the breath, to work through them was extremely helpful.

One of the most instructional and practical guided meditations I’ve had. Thank you.

Thank you. Very helpful.

Dear Dr. Neale, thank you for this practice. I appreciate your guidance and clear instruction. Sending good wishes.

Educational and healing. ✨🙏✨

Lovely and inviting voice and pacing. Good guidance and information. Thank you! 🙏

Excellent advice on dealing with the 5 hindrances. I won't be using it again as a meditation but have made notes for guidance in my future practice.

This was a very nice meditation. It truly helped me to redirect my hindrances. Thank you.

Great informative excellent