Turning towards difficulty.
This practice helps approach difficulties with acceptance and care.
If during any part of this practice you get a sense of feeling overwhelmed,
You can always return to the breath to anchor yourself in the present moment.
And once you feel settled again,
You may choose to come back to this practice and try again.
Finding a quiet space and coming to sit in a relaxed upright posture on a cushion or chair,
And taking a few moments to ground yourself in the body,
And getting a sense of the body sitting here.
And turning your attention to the center of the body,
To the lower abdomen,
And connecting with the breathing sensations here.
Sensing the gentle stretching of the belly wall with each in and out breath,
And staying here for a little while,
Just following the natural flow of the breath.
And now bringing to mind the difficulty in your life that you are currently experiencing.
It doesn't have to be anything big or important.
Perhaps an unpleasant situation that has happened recently due to a misunderstanding or argument,
Or feeling regretful about something that has happened,
Or a worry about something that is unresolved.
And if nothing comes to mind,
Then you can recall a difficulty from your recent or distant past.
Making this vivid again with your mind's ability in the form of images,
Words,
Emotional charge.
And allowing these to remain in the mind.
Allowing the feelings in.
Naming the feelings.
You can say,
Here is anger,
Or here is fear,
Or shame,
Or frustration.
So really getting in touch with the actual feeling.
And then dropping your attention into the body,
Seeing if you can become aware of any physical sensations that are accompanying the difficult emotion.
Leaving its trace in the body.
These sensations may be obvious or more subtle,
So just remaining curious.
And seeing if you can identify the region of the body where you can feel them the most.
Resting your attention in this region.
Exploring the quality of the sensations present.
Allowing them to be just as they are.
Perhaps breathing into the area and breathing out of the area again.
This can help you get closer to the experience without needing to change anything about it.
Just allowing these sensations to be here.
Exploring them with curiosity and care.
Observing how they change in intensity from moment to moment.
Just like all sensations,
All thoughts and feelings,
They come and go.
As you get up close to these sensations,
Noticing how you are relating to them.
Also holding these reactions in your awareness with a sense of kindness towards yourself.
Seeing if you can stay with the sensations.
Allowing them to be just as you find them.
It may be helpful to say to yourself silently,
It's okay to feel this.
I can be with this.
Resting your attention in and around these sensations.
Breathing with them.
Letting them be.
It's okay and natural to not want them around.
So you can also choose to say to yourself,
It's okay not to like this.
Let's see if I can be open to this just as it is.
Breathing into and out of these sensations.
Seeing if it's possible to stay with the awareness of these physical sensations in the body.
Allowing them to be just as they are.
And now as we come to the end of this practice,
Turning your attention back to the breath and the sense of the whole body breathing.
Perhaps deepening the in and the out breath for a few rounds.
Just noticing how this feels.
