We all have those days where nothing seems to be going our way.
If this is happening for you today,
Perhaps you are feeling under the weather,
Or emotionally exhausted,
Or overwhelmed,
Or even reactionary.
When you are experiencing these things,
It's easy to label the day as bad,
But this is often inaccurate.
There is almost always something good in the day,
However small.
And there are also plenty of things that are neutral,
Neither good or bad.
Your mindfulness practice teaches you to pause and recognize both the good,
The bad,
And the neutral moments,
So that it becomes easier to be with the difficulties.
Mindfulness helps you remember that,
Ultimately,
None of these moments are permanent.
You also learn that when you do have painful moments,
You can respond with compassion and rewrite or recreate the story of the day.
Let's call this re-naturing,
Moving out of a reactionary or mental place,
And back into the awareness and connection and intention of your true-natured self.
This meditation will help you learn to do just that.
To begin,
Take a moment to bring yourself to stillness.
Feel the floor beneath you,
And the chair or cushion as it supports you.
Place your hands over your heart and take a deep breath into your hands.
Pause,
And then exhale.
Continue one deep breath in,
Pause,
And one long breath out.
Again,
Pausing.
And one more breath in,
Pause,
And one more breath out.
Allow your breath now to come back to neutral or natural and release your hands to your lap.
Bring to mind something difficult that you have experienced today.
It could be a specific event,
Or a feeling,
Or whatever arises naturally in your mind.
Why is this day bad?
As the feelings of bad day arise,
Pay attention to what that experience is like.
Notice if there's a feeling in the body,
Or notice any thought processes in the mind.
Try not to get involved in the story of why this is bad.
Instead,
Observe and tune in to the overall experience and emotion.
Notice how it feels to be having a tough time today,
And with awareness of how this feels,
Offer yourself some compassion.
You can silently repeat these phrases.
This is a moment of pain,
Or difficulty,
Or discomfort,
Or suffering.
May I tend to this pain with caring awareness.
Again,
This is a moment of pain,
Or difficulty.
May I tend to this with caring awareness.
This is a moment of pain,
Or difficulty,
Or discomfort,
Or suffering.
I tend to this pain with caring awareness.
Notice if there are any other compassionate thoughts that arise,
Perhaps something like,
I accept this difficulty and pain,
Or I am doing my best to be present in this time.
Now,
Bring something to mind that has brought you joy or contentment today,
Or any day.
See if you can find a moment in which you weren't enveloped by the discomfort or pain.
It may be when you first woke up,
Or a nice conversation you had,
Or even a glimpse of something beautiful in nature.
As something comes to mind,
Connect with how the experience felt.
Recognize that although you may be having a hard day,
Here is a moment of freedom from the pain.
Offer yourself the simple,
Silent phrase,
I appreciate this moment.
Continue bringing to mind other times in which you experienced some joy or contentment during your day,
Today,
Or any day.
As each new pleasant experience comes up,
Sit with it for a few deep breaths,
And repeat the phrase,
I appreciate this moment.
Now,
Begin to observe the neutral moments in your day.
This could be something like walking upstairs,
Or deleting an email.
Allow your mind to come to things that are neutral or mundane.
Again,
Repeat,
I appreciate this moment.
Now,
For a few moments,
Reflect on the entirety of your day,
Without denying your own experience of having a bad day,
Also recognize that some moments were pleasant or neutral.
Notice this experience of seeing the day as bad,
Pleasant,
And neutral.
Repeat to yourself,
I am present to the entirety of this day.
Even though it's been difficult,
I accept this day with loving kindness.
I am present to the entirety of this day.
Even though it's been difficult,
I accept this day with loving kindness.
As you're ready,
Bring gentle movement to your fingers and toes.
If your eyes are closed,
You can flutter them open.
Thank you so much for taking this time for yourself today.
May you move forward with grace.
If you wish to move now into a practice of art-based mindfulness,
I invite you to take a moment to draw or doodle your experience of the day as good,
Bad,
And neutral.
In other words,
Draw your experience at the end of the meditation.
I recommend that you keep the drawing small.
It can be helpful to draw a box or circle,
And in that space,
Use line,
Color,
And shape to create the experience.
Try to avoid drawing the trigger or the situation that made you feel bad.
Again,
Focus on the feeling or physical experience of good,
Bad,
And neutral.
For example,
If part of what you're feeling is anger,
Perhaps there are lines that are jagged or pointy.
If part of what you're feeling is sad,
Perhaps there are colors like blue or dark brown or gray.
Select line and color in a way that feels relevant to you,
And just take two to five minutes to create a doodle or drawing.
You might also draw a stick figure and create marks to represent where you experienced good and bad and neutral in your body.
When you're done,
Take a moment to journal with the image.
Perhaps you write a paragraph or a few sentences to summarize,
Then ask the image,
How do I bring more balance to this day that feels bad?
Again,
How do I bring more balance to this day that feels bad?
Let the image answer you.
Again,
Write from the perspective of your image as if it were a friend.
You might also ask it,
What one to three specific steps can I take to show myself compassion?
Again,
That's what specific steps can I take to show myself more compassion?
Once again,
Let the drawing answer.
Allow yourself to write freely or with stream of consciousness without judgment.
You might try writing your responses from the drawing with your non-dominant hand.
You might be surprised with what your image has to share.
Please feel welcomed to message me to share your experience.
Thank you.
Namaste.
