Tonglen

This nine-minute ancient Buddhist meditation is intended to help you work with painful emotions and to increase your sense of belonging. You will be instructed to use the breath as the vehicle for compassion.

Transcript

This is an ancient Buddhist practice called Tan Glen and it's designed to help you acknowledge pain or discomfort and to work with it. It can be also used when you want to work with someone else's suffering that you want to help alleviate somehow. So first I want you to either sit down or lie down in a position where you're very comfortable. Then I want you to close your eyes and now I want you to inhale and exhale and as you inhale I want you to connect with the quality of darkness and pressure and heaviness and claustrophobia. So inhale dark and pleasant heavy and on the exhale I want you to send out light and cool and refreshing. So synchronize this with your breath. Inhale dark heavy oppressive painful exhale light expansive and you can imagine breathing into and out of your heart. So as you breathe in your heart fills with darkness and heaviness and claustrophobia and as you breathe out your light becomes your heart becomes light and bright and expansive. So the darkness gets transformed and try to make the inhale and exhale last the same amount of time. And so now just do that for a little while. Inhale dark heavy exhale cool refreshing. And now I want you to call upon something some situation that's really painful for you right now. And on the inhale I want you to breathe in that dark oppressive quality and all the pain of the situation and on the exhale breathe out light refreshing and whatever would be helpful with this situation with this pain whatever would be the antidote. So again breathing in the pain and breathing out the light to help whatever would be most soothing or most helpful for dealing with this pain. And now as you breathe in breathing the pain the darkness for yourself and everyone else who is in the same situation. And on each exhale breathing out light and comfort for yourself and for everyone else who is in this moment facing the same pain. Opening your heart to your own very real pain and to everybody else's pain who is in the same situation. And on the exhale sending out comfort soothing support for yourself and for everyone else. Who's in the same boat. So continuing to breathe in this discomfort and breathe out the light soothing comfort and help for yourself and everyone else. Again if your mind wanders just bringing it back. Again just connecting with the qualities of on the inhale having your heart filled with dark oppressive pain and on the exhale having that pain transform into light comfort warmth. On the inhale connecting with your own and everyone else's pain that's facing the same thing that you are right now. And sending out relief for yourself and everyone else who's feeling this. And now you can drop the focus on the sensations of pain and just come back to the breath. Just being with your breath as it comes in and out. And when you're ready opening your eyes and coming back to the day.