This Too Will Pass: For Moments Of Minor Illness

I thought it might be helpful to talk a little bit about how mindfulness can help us when we're not feeling well.

It's all very well to practice mindfulness on a beautiful day,

Or looking at beautiful flowers,

Eating beautiful food,

But what about practicing mindfulness when we're a bit under the weather,

We're feeling unwell,

Our body's not quite working as we'd like it to?

That's where the real work comes in,

And it's something that I've been going through personally these last few weeks,

Not feeling my usual energetic self,

Not being able to do and achieve in quite the same way as I normally can.

And so I'm really calling on the mindfulness techniques that I teach,

That I share,

To help me through this time.

And one of the things that I find most helpful is to see the illness in my body as just a little storm passing through me,

A little bit like being a sailor out at sea,

Being tossed around on the waves,

And having that deep knowing,

That knowing from being that experienced person at sea,

That the storm will pass,

And all I need to do is ride those waves,

Practice patience,

Practice courage,

Practice perseverance,

And eventually,

Whether it's one day,

A week,

Or maybe a little longer,

That storm will settle,

And the sun will shine again,

And a cool breeze will blow against my face.

And so as I sit here feeling a little unwell,

Wishing I could perhaps be in the outside world,

Feeling energetic and free,

I bring to mind the image of that storm,

Because all storms eventually run out of energy and pass.

And so for you,

My friends,

So too will those feelings of being unwell,

Of being in struggle,

Just keep calling on your practice,

Remembering that every storm eventually passes.

Wishing you well,

And I hope to see you again soon.