Online MBCT/MBSR Lesson 5

Allowing in a Difficulty and Working With it Through the Body

In this meditation, you'll be allowing in and turning towards a difficulty that you're experiencing right now, or bringing to mind something difficult you've been experiencing recently that you're comfortable exploring for a while.

• You'll begin by becoming mindful of breath and body to help settle your mind and bring you into the present.
 
• Then you’ll bring this difficulty to mind, turn towards it, and allow it in.
 
• Then you're going to pay attention to where in your body you're experiencing this difficulty and notice any physical sensations related to it, such as:
 
• A feeling in the pit of your stomach, or some other discomfort in your stomach
• Some tightness in your chest or throat, or a lump in your throat
• Some tension in your shoulders, neck, jaw, face or head
• Some tension or tightness or clenching elsewhere in your body
• A feeling of restlessness or jitteriness somewhere in your body
• Some other source of discomfort or pain
 
• Once you’ve located this physical feeling that corresponds to the difficulty, you’ll turn towards it and open yourself up to whatever you’re feeling in your body, using your breath to focus your attention on any sensations here as you breathe in, and then seeing if these sensations soften, release or relax at all as you breathe out.
 
• Then just following these sensations by breathing with them, not trying to change them, just accepting whatever feelings are here and allowing them to be however they are. Watching and observing these physical sensations and noticing how they change from moment to moment, any increases or decreases in intensity, any ebbs and flows, and so on.
 
• If you get pulled in to this difficulty and start thinking about it rather than feeling it in your body, or your mind simply wanders away, bringing your awareness back to your breath to reconnect to the present, and then using your breath to shift your attention back to the difficulty and the body sensations associated with it.
 
• If this feeling subsides completely while you're paying attention to it, simply return to practicing an awareness of the breath and body until the end of the meditation.
 
• If it ever becomes too hard or uncomfortable to continue holding this difficulty in awareness, you can try calming yourself by focusing on your breath for a while, perhaps silently repeating to yourself the phrase “breathing in I feel calm … breathing out I relax.” Then you may decide to bring the difficulty back to mind and try working with it again, or you may decide to stop the meditation at any time if you feel the need.