Breathing Into Discomfort Meditation

This meditation is a recording from Present Mindfulness Academy's Free Facebook live meditation series. Meditation begins with connecting to the breath and completing a body scan. It then moves into investigating the body and noticing any places of discomfort. You will be asked a series of questions to help you investigate what is causing this discomfort in your body and will be guided to breath through the discomfort. Namaste

Transcript

Work just as well.

So let's begin by placing the feet firmly on the ground,

Sitting in an upright position,

Releasing and dropping the shoulders and just allowing the body to relax and melt down and use the chair as a support.

And if it feels comfortable gently closing the eyes now,

Allowing the jaw to release and relax and noticing the eyes and if they're feeling a bit proud or a bit tight and just allowing them to flutter and lie loosely.

Feeling into the shoulders,

Noticing what's there if they're a bit bunched up or a bit tight and just allowing that to drop down,

Maybe rolling the shoulders back and just releasing and dropping them down now.

And we'll begin by taking three deep breaths together and we'll breathe in through the nose and we'll breathe out through the mouth and as we breathe out just releasing and letting go.

So let's breathe in through the nose and releasing out through the mouth.

Breathing in through the nose and releasing out through the mouth.

And one more breath in through the nose and releasing,

Letting go out through the mouth.

I'm just allowing the breath to return back to its regular breathing pattern now.

We're going to watch the breath for a moment now.

So finding where you can feel the breath the most,

Noticing the sensation of the breath,

Moving in and out of the body,

Watching it flow.

Maybe you notice it at the nostrils,

Maybe you notice it at the chest,

Or maybe you notice it in the belly.

And just focusing on where you feel the breath,

Not trying to change the breath,

Not trying to force it.

Just noticing the breath,

Where you can feel it.

And watching it flow in and out.

I know that I'm breathing in.

I know that I'm breathing out.

I'm just allowing the breath to move at its own pace and becoming present in this moment with the breath.

Releasing the breath now and bringing your awareness to the body.

Checking in with the body,

Starting at the top of the head,

Making your way down,

Scanning the whole body,

Taking in the head and the neck,

The shoulders,

The arms and the hands.

Noticing the chest and the belly,

Moving down the spine,

Taking in the upper back and the lower back.

Noticing the pelvis and the hips and the buttocks,

The thighs,

Knees,

The lower legs and the feet.

Just scanning the body,

Checking in with it and noticing what's present in this moment.

Now bringing your awareness to the place in the body that's calling for your attention.

You might feel some form of discomfort in this area and we're not trying to change it,

We're not trying to ignore it.

We're just checking into this place of the body and just noticing what you can feel here.

Is there any tightness,

Any tension,

Any tingling?

Is there a heaviness,

A lightness?

Just noticing what is here and acknowledging any sensation that is present in this part of the body.

Our bodies are amazing messengers,

They let us know when we have an unmet need.

So let's investigate and see if we can understand the message our body is sending to us.

So as we check in to the discomfort in the body,

Bring it into full focus,

Full attention and just be present with whatever is here.

Watching it ebb and flow,

Constantly changing in every moment.

And as you sit with this area of the body and the sensations that are here,

We're going to start doing some inquiry and thinking about the following questions.

What message does this discomfort have for me?

What belief am I running that has caused this discomfort?

What unmet need do I have for this discomfort to be present?

So just sitting with the body and the sensation and just allowing these questions to float around on the workbench of the mind,

Not trying to force an answer,

But just noticing what comes to mind,

Maybe a memory,

An emotion,

Or thought might pop into your mind as you contemplate these questions.

Just noticing what becomes present.

So let's take a few moments to sit and be in contemplation with the body.

As we investigate the first question of what message does this discomfort have for me?

What message does this discomfort have for me?

Just seeing what arises,

Trying not to avoid or cling onto anything,

Just being the observer.

Just noticing where the mind is.

Has it gone off on a tangent?

Or is it focused with open awareness on why the discomfort has arisen?

And coming back to the body and back to the discomfort as you use curiosity to think about the next question.

What unmet need could be causing this discomfort?

What unmet need could be causing this discomfort?

And once again being the investigator,

The observer,

And just watching what arises in your awareness.

Remembering this practice isn't about forcing an answer,

It's just about being present with yourself,

Connecting to your truth and listening.

When we can be the observer and just sit in contemplation,

The answers we are looking for will rise from beneath the surface of the mind of the ego and the true self will come and send us the message we need to hear.

So taking one last moment to sit with the body and listening to the messages it might have when you ask,

What belief am I running that is causing this discomfort?

What belief am I running that is causing this discomfort?

And as you sit with the discomfort,

Watching it,

Asking it all these questions,

Just noticing the ebb and flow of emotions that may be arising and falling away,

Of thoughts that may be arising and falling away,

Of memories that may be arising and falling away.

And just sitting in this moment with all that arises and just being and just noticing what message is here for me.

What do I need to hear today?

So now I just want you to focus on the body one last time,

Bringing your attention back to the place where you feel the discomfort and just noticing how it feels now.

Does it feel different from when we began?

Stronger or weaker?

There's no right or wrong.

It's just being present with whatever is arisen tonight for you.

And now let's just breathe into this area of the body.

Just trying to move the breath to this area and breathing in and releasing.

And as you breathe in,

You might like to imagine white light moving into this area.

And as you breathe out,

You might like to see the discomfort releasing from the body.

Just breathing into here in this moment.

Not trying to change it,

Just watching it.

We're comforting this area with the breath.

And just noticing as you breathe into this area,

If anything else arises,

I'm just noting to yourself whatever messages have been given.

And if no messages have been received,

That's perfectly okay.

There might be some more that you need to unlock before you can find the underlying cause.

A lot of our unmet needs are like an onion.

And we've put layers and layers and layers on top of that unmet need as we've gone throughout our life,

Hiding it and pushing it away,

Pretending it wasn't there,

Ignoring it.

But as we sit in meditation,

We start to unravel the onion,

Start to unpeel the layers.

And sometimes it's easy to open those layers,

And we get to the heart of the problem straight away.

And other times there could be some struggles,

There could be some tears.

Whatever the journey is for you,

Just sitting and accepting that this is your as-is.

Trying to wish for something different.

Because this will only lead to more suffering.

The more we can accept our present moment and what is happening with us,

The more it dissipates and the more we can move through it and release it.

It's now time to let go of our practice for tonight.

So I'd like you to take a deep breath in through the nose,

And as you release through the mouth,

Letting go of the discomfort,

Releasing it,

Releasing the body.

And just coming back to the breath for a moment now.

Following the breath,

Noticing where it is,

Watching its rhythm and its flow.

And in a moment you'll hear the sound of my bowl.

And when the bowl ends,

This will signify the end of our meditation.

And you can gently awaken the body and stretch in any way that feels comfortable for you.

Thank you.