This is a meditation on working with habits of wanting or craving.
It's a meditation on riding the waves of craving.
This meditation can be used when we're working with a strong feeling of wanting or other difficult urges or emotions that can lead us into unhealthy habit patterns.
So to begin,
Find a comfortable,
Relaxed sitting posture with your back straight,
Your shoulders relaxed,
Your eyes gently closed if that's comfortable,
Or if you prefer to have your eyes open,
Looking ahead with a soft,
Unfocused gaze.
Take a few deep breaths and invite a calming of the body and the mind as you breathe in and a release of tension as you breathe out.
Bring awareness into your body and moving attention down the body invite any area of tension in the facial muscles,
The eyes,
The shoulders,
The chest or the belly to release.
Sit in a way that's relaxed and alert.
Now bring to mind a situation or experience where you felt a strong urge or craving for something that you know will not be healthy or a wise choice.
It might be something that you're currently dealing with that's present right now.
Allow yourself to feel and open to whatever you're experiencing with the commitment to stay with the direct feelings rather than pushing them away or acting out the urge or the emotion or craving.
Bring awareness to your bodily sensations and feel what's present.
If there's tightness or tension in your chest area,
Open to these feelings.
Breathe into the feelings.
Say yes to the feelings.
It may be helpful to name the feeling or energy that is present.
Tightness,
Squeezing,
Heat,
Tingling,
Collapsing.
Pay close attention to the feelings and notice if they change.
Do they get stronger or weaker?
Do they go away for a time?
Do they morph into other kinds of feelings?
Tightness into pulsing or throbbing for example.
Can you experience these sensations as like waves that build up,
Crest and then subside?
Can you open to the space around the feeling and experience the feeling floating within this larger space?
Bring the same kind and accepting attention to the energies of strong emotion.
Fear,
Sadness,
Anger or feelings of wanting.
Recognize how these energies also come and go.
Rise and fall,
Crest and subside.
Often bringing with them strong urges that you might typically respond to by acting on the urge or pushing away a painful experience.
If it's helpful,
Visualize the intense urges,
Cravings or emotions as like waves and see yourself riding the waves.
Feel the energy of wanting,
Wanting something or wanting to do something and ride the waves of these experiences.
Feel the space around these strong emotions and if it's helpful,
Send a wish of happiness or ease to yourself and perhaps put a hand on your chest or belly and wish yourself well.
Bring awareness to your thoughts and see how these too come and go if you don't act on them.
Continue to ride the waves of these challenging experiences saying yes to whatever arises.
Continue to practice opening to your experience by riding the waves as long as the urges or the cravings last.
If and when they subside,
You can rest in the experience of breathing or in the sensations of the body here and now.
So take a couple of quiet minutes to open to whatever feelings are present.
See how it is to ride the waves of challenging emotions,
Sensations,
Thoughts,
Urges.
Thank you.
You can also ride the waves of craving or challenging emotions in daily life when you're in the midst of a difficult or painful experience.
It will normally require you to be able to pause whatever you're doing and take some quiet moments to open to your direct experience as we've been doing.
Thank you.
