Settling into a comfortable,
Seated position.
Adjusting as needed to maximize comfort.
And closing your eyes.
Gathering your attention all together by adopting a soothing breathing rhythm.
The deep inhale in.
I'm going to long exhale out.
I'm doing this three times.
Deep in.
Slow long out.
And in.
Long out.
Noticing the weight of the body on whatever is holding you up.
Sensations of gravity rooting you down in groundedness.
And then simultaneously attending to sensations of the spine and the neck.
Bring the head gently upward.
These two realities,
The melting downward into the chair or support doing all the work of holding you up.
And the upliftment of the top half of the body in a slight extension heavenward.
Two directions,
Each with complementary purpose.
Continuing to attend to the breath.
Noticing how it effortlessly is always there for you.
Always dependable.
Feeling in the body the nurturing of this constant rhythm.
That you don't have to do anything about it.
The breath is taking care of you all on its own.
Breathing in God's breath of life.
Feeling that you're never alone because God is closer to you than even your breath.
Soon we will turn attention toward your fear or difficult emotion.
But before we do,
Recognizing the intention for this practice.
It's not to make this feeling stop or to avoid it or fight it or numb it in any way.
Counter intuitively trying to stop or avoid uncomfortable emotions causes them to intensify or boomerang back even stronger.
The intention is to accept and bring courageous compassion toward your own suffering.
Relying on the strength and loving kindness of Jesus Christ and allowing the challenging feeling to alleviate all on its own.
And now bringing attention to a difficult emotion.
Perhaps fear or anxiety.
Uncertainty or threat.
Or perhaps even shame.
As best you can,
Name or label the emotion with words.
In addition,
Noticing the secondary feeling of resistance.
Wanting this troubling emotion to stop or to avoid it or perhaps fight it.
As best you can,
Allow the fear and the urge to avoid it to just be here.
And labeling the avoidance also with words.
Fearful.
Desire to control.
Annoyed.
Defeated.
Greeting and breathing into that impulse to avoid the difficult feeling.
Seeing if you can label these emotions by saying,
I'm noticing anger here.
Or I'm noticing shame arising.
Adding the words I'm noticing helps separate your observing self from that emotion or thought and helps you not to get hooked or identified with it as much.
Becoming aware of what thoughts are here.
Understanding them as mental events without getting lost in the storyline.
Accepting that this difficulty is here does not mean that you like it and this is not passive resignation.
It is courageous acknowledgement that this is how things are right now.
Understanding your awareness and capacity to hold it and be with it with a bold tenderness.
And exploring the body with a curious kind attitude.
Seeing where these emotions are manifest.
Like waves we can't control painful feelings,
But we can learn to surf them and surf the urge to avoid them.
These emotions won't remain.
They will move and change and ebb and flow just like a wave.
It will swell and peak and subside all on its own.
So where specifically do you feel these emotions in the body?
Where in the face is there tensing?
Is there a tightness in the upper body?
Clenching in the torso?
An uneasiness in the arms or legs as it's preparing to fight or to run?
Inquiring,
Hmm,
What is it physically like to feel this difficult emotion?
Perhaps there's a sense of numbness and sensation is difficult to feel.
Bringing gentle awareness to the feelings of numbness and welcoming it in as well.
Bringing a friendly,
Kind expression to your mouth and eyes.
Keeping your fear with an open tenderness like you would if a good friend was experiencing this.
Seeing if placing a hand on the most affected part of the body offers some soothing.
Or perhaps a hand on the heart or the fist on the heart.
Seeing if this brings compassionate contact with your own suffering.
And now imagining that your difficult emotion or anxiety could be pulled out of you and placed on your lap as a frightened baby.
Imagining holding and soothing the baby with your gentle touch,
Your caring facial expression,
Your soothing tone of voice.
Reassuring your suffering self that you're moved with care about your own distress.
Bringing it close to you,
Treating this fear or challenging emotion with dignity and respect.
From the beginning of this meditation,
Just as we notice the direction of grounding while simultaneously aware of the upward direction of upliftment,
We now hold two different emotional realities at the same time.
See if while holding the difficulty with your soothing and not pushing it away,
You can also shift focus.
Calling to mind a compassionate figure.
Imagining the embodiment of compassion,
Jesus Christ,
Near wherever you are.
Knowing he has deep understanding of how hard it is here in mortality,
Living as a limited human being.
Recognizing that we are all just human and feeling fear,
Anxiety,
And emotional pain is part of the full range of human emotions.
We struggle,
Have weaknesses,
And life brings challenges to each and every one of us really.
Picturing him listening and offering support.
This powerful,
Compassionate desire and strength of motivation is to console you in your suffering.
What would he say to you in wisdom and care about this difficulty?
Feeling his protection,
His shield,
Himself as a refuge.
Sensing his encouragement of your own compassionate attitude toward yourself.
We're all human and feel vulnerable and powerless from time to time,
And he understands this completely.
He offers love to you no matter where you are on life's journey,
Or whether or not you feel you deserve it.
And now recalling past times in your life and viewing evidence that God has protected you or shielded you or been your refuge.
Really offering thanks to God for his protection.
He has engraved you in the palms of his hands.
His suffering on your behalf has given him the power to run to you in your suffering.
You are not alone as you accept and acknowledge your pain because he is here with you.
He offers you his power,
His wisdom,
And his full compassion.
From Psalms,
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For you are with me.
In Paul in Romans,
Not height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ.
Imagining the vastness and the limitless nature of his compassion,
And that this awakens the strength and wisdom and compassion that resides in you that are your divine birthright.
From this place of his ideal limitless compassion,
Viewing again the emotion or fear that is bothering you.
Realizing how seeing yourself in the presence of his loving kindness strengthens compassion toward your own self.
Having a sense of your strength and groundedness,
And this growing spaciousness with which you can attend to the painful emotion.
Experiencing the flexibility to move between accepting the difficult emotion while at the same time receiving comfort from Jesus Christ and your own compassionate mind.
Staying in contact with painful feelings without pushing them away,
Holding them on the one hand and in the other hand receiving care and understanding from your compassionate self and him who came to bind up the broken hearted,
To give them beauty for ashes and joy for mourning.
Realizing your choice and staying with the actual experience of pain protected in his refuge.
Experiencing strength in his protection not only to stay with the difficulty,
But to step forward toward the suffering of others,
Seeing if there is a way you can be helpful to relieving suffering.
Your challenging emotion does not isolate you from others,
But is part of being human.
Just like you,
Countless others know what this feels like.
You are not alone because others are experiencing the same thing even right in this moment.
And you are not alone because you are present to yourself in this difficulty.
And you are not alone because he is here with you.
Psalms declares,
The Lord is near the broken hearted and rescues those who are crushed in spirit.
And returning awareness to this breath,
Breathing out compassion for yourself and the countless others who are experiencing this very difficulty.
And that your willingness to stay present with this experience,
To rely on Christ in it,
And to offer yourself compassion might bring strength and comfort to all others who are suffering in this way.
And as you inhale,
Opening your heart wider to this experience.
And on the exhale,
Breathe out your own offering to the world.
May we all be free from this suffering.
May we each find peace and joy.
May we all be held in his loving presence.
May we be protected from harm and free from fear.
May we all be held in his loving presence.
May we be protected from harm and free from fear.
And in conclusion,
Bringing the reward of courageous acceptance,
Compassion,
And increased choice forward with you in the rest of your day.
And when you're ready,
Opening your eyes,
Making contact again with the outside world.
