Caring For Emotional, Mental, Or External Difficulty

When we are faced with a difficult emotion,

We often seek ways to change how we feel,

Trying to outthink the emotional experience or putting our attention elsewhere.

Attending to these moments with mindfulness requires some patience and compassion.

By caring for the painful experience,

You can allow yourself to feel it and see it with clarity.

This exercise will help you practice being with the difficulty rather than pushing it away.

Start this practice whenever you are experiencing something difficult.

It can be an emotional experience such as anger,

A mental experience like racing thoughts,

An external experience like a stressful work day,

Or any other difficulty you face during the day.

When you notice that you are having a difficult moment,

Bring your awareness into the experience.

Instead of pushing it away or resisting,

Turn toward it.

Place your hand over your heart.

This stimulates the vagus nerve,

Activating the parasympathetic nervous system.

Recognizing the pain and keeping your hand on your heart offer yourself a few phrases.

These phrases help you recognize the difficulty,

Turn toward it,

And respond with compassion.

This is a moment of pain or discomfort or difficulty.

I cannot avoid all pain in life.

I move through difficult emotions such as grief so that I contend to myself with care,

Compassion,

And love.

I care about this suffering.

I am strong.

Repeat these phrases to yourself with the intention of caring for the difficulty.

If the mind tries to fix the pain or solve the problem,

Just return to the phrases and self-compassion.

And after a couple of seconds,

Let go of the phrases and remove the hand from the chest.

The difficulty may not be gone,

But remember,

The phrases are always accessible throughout your day.

Thank you.