In Times Of Great Stress

This guided meditation is designed to help you put your stress in perspective and shift into a calmer state of mind.

The meditation will end with about five minutes of silence,

Followed by three consecutive bells.

So close your eyes and find a comfortable sitting position,

Any way in which you can be at ease,

But also alert.

Having a sleep can help for a little while,

But in the long run it's best to ease the stress while we're awake and alert.

This way we train our minds to handle stressful thoughts and emotions without needing to take refuge in sleep or in unhealthy distractions.

I think of meditation at times like a gentle workout for the mind,

And because of it my mind becomes more skillful at handling difficult things.

It's not unlike the body becoming better at climbing stairs or going skiing because I trained.

To begin,

Let's take a few deeper breaths,

Signaling to our mind and body that it's time to engage in this moment.

It's time to be fully present.

Give yourself permission to treat this time as a gift to yourself.

So take a few deep breaths in through your nose if you can,

And exhaling through your lips,

Feeling all the breath release from your body.

Sometimes it helps to purse your lips a little to really feel all the air release.

Time to keep your attention on the whole inhale and the whole exhale,

Noticing the beginning,

Middle and end,

And even the space in between breaths.

Now,

Allow your breath to return to normal.

If your mind wanders,

Try to have an attitude of accepting and allowing.

This is what minds do.

Thoughts come and thoughts go.

We can view the wandering mind with kindness,

Even compassion,

And we can gently bring our attention back to the breath.

If you notice a thought is really persistent,

See if you can catch it and hold on to it.

Notice where it came from when it arose and where it went when it vanished.

And then bring your attention back to your breath.

Now,

Let's take a few deep breaths in through your nose.

Let's take a few deep breaths in through your nose.

Let's take a few deep breaths in through your nose.

Let's take a few deep breaths in through your nose.

Let's take a few deep breaths in through your nose.

Let's take a few deep breaths in through your nose.

Let's take a few deep breaths in through your nose.

Notice where your mind is right now.

For many of us,

The mind races back into the past or wanders into the future or perhaps circles around the same difficulty over and over again.

Maybe it's a tough conversation,

Something you wish you had said or done or something you think you need to say.

Sometimes these thoughts have physical symptoms,

Like your heart beating a little faster or an ache in the shoulders or stomach.

Remember that your mind is not doing anything wrong.

It's only doing what minds do,

And with compassion you can let go of this thought or that feeling and gently bring your attention back to the breath.

If it helps,

You can visualize the thought or the feeling you had and place it in a balloon and let it float into the sky.

You can give it a friendly wave goodbye and silently tell it that you'll see it again when it's appropriate.

For now,

Simply begin again,

Focusing on the breath,

One breath at a time,

And mindful of the breaths beginning,

Middle and end,

And the space in between breaths.

And then begin again in this new moment,

Beginning with this new breath.

And close to the breath like the // Pleasant Protein.

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When stressful things happen,

Such as a difficult situation that keeps pulling you in,

The mind will often repeat itself,

Like the same movie scene playing over and over again,

The same imaginary conversations,

The same imaginary actions.

Think back to times when this has happened to you before.

It's hard to know when or how you came out of it,

But at some point,

The endless internal conversations stopped.

Old problems got resolved,

Or they lost some of their importance and urgency.

Even when it seemed you would never get through them,

You eventually did.

And yet,

We hardly noticed the absence of an old problem or difficulty.

It's just gone,

And our minds move on to circling around and around new problems.

As we get older,

We have the experience of surviving more situations,

Coming through more bad times,

And often we emerge stronger and wiser.

So it's a bit of a contradiction that,

Even as we become better at surviving,

Life can feel more stressful,

Or more worrisome.

It really should be the opposite.

The more I survive,

The stronger and more confident I feel about my future survival.

So take a moment now and notice the absence of a past difficulty,

One that no longer fills your mind,

And appreciate how far you've come.

And then begin again,

Returning to the breath,

Resting your attention on the whole breath,

The beginning,

The middle,

And the end,

And the space in between.

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Sometimes when we get wrapped up in a thought,

A good way to come back is to ask ourselves,

What's really happening now?

And bring the mind back to what this moment really holds.

See if you can fully capture what's happening right now.

Maybe there's muscle tension,

Or a variation in your heart rate,

Or a fluttering sensation in your belly.

Maybe you can feel the coolness of the air against the surface of your face.

Maybe you feel moisture in the palms of your hands,

Or you notice patterns playing against the inside of your closed eyelids.

There's a rich landscape to notice in every moment,

And always the breath,

Each breath happening right now.

See if you can feel the numerous muscles in your face,

And allow them to release their tension.

Let your lips relax into their fullness.

In the language we use,

We often say things like,

I am upset,

Or I am angry,

Or I am sad.

This use of words plays a trick on us,

As if it defines the whole person in a statement that begins with,

I am.

That way of talking,

Which is really a way of thinking,

It neglects everything else that we are in this very moment.

Sitting,

Breathing,

Feeling the sensations in our bodies,

All the thoughts we have that are not the anger,

Or the stress,

Or the upsetness,

Or the sadness.

It would be more accurate to say,

I have an angry feeling,

Or even,

There's a stressful thought,

Or,

Instead of,

I'm in pain,

There's a pinching sensation,

Or that muscle feels stiff.

When you acknowledge thoughts and feelings for what they are,

Instead of tying them to who you are,

They lose some of their power.

And then you can gently,

Deliberately,

Return your attention to the breath.

This trains your awareness to acknowledge at every moment,

That you are much more than a single thought or emotion,

No matter how difficult or painful.

These things just pass through.

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If there's still a persistent thought or emotion,

Or sensation,

Notice it and,

Again,

Try to notice its qualities.

You might think of it as one wave in an enormous ocean.

Some waves are bigger and louder than others.

Some waves claim to be the whole ocean.

You can notice them,

And with kindness,

Remind them that they are not the ocean,

Only waves.

In the vast ocean,

This is your limitless container,

Bigger than any single thought or feeling.

For a moment,

Allow yourself to feel the expanse of your consciousness,

This limitless ocean that contains so many thoughts and feelings and sensations in the course of your life.

You.

You.

So much more than any thought,

Any feeling,

Any sensation.

And then,

For the next few minutes,

As we near the end of this meditation,

Begin again,

Staying with one whole breath,

And then another,

And the spaces in between.

You.

You.

You.

You.

You.

You.

You.

You.

You.

You.