Working with Difficulty Audio Transcript

Coming now to sit. Sitting on a chair, a cushion, or a stool, and finding a posture which embodies a sense of wakefulness, of presence. Taking time now to find a comfortable position with the back straight but not stiff, and with the head balanced, and the chin tucked slightly in. And if you're sitting on a chair, allowing your back to be a little away from the back of the chair, if that's possible. The shoulders can be dropped and relaxed.

The facial expression soft. Becoming aware of the sensations of contact of the body with whatever you're sitting on and other sensations in the body as you sit here. Noticing any tension in the body, tightness in the shoulders, frowning, and as best you can, letting go. Remembering that you're not trying to get anywhere or achieve any special state. It's enough to be here now, moment by moment, just as you are, however you're feeling, allowing things to be just as you find them.

And now, bringing your attention to the breath as it comes in and leaves the body. Noticing the sensations of the breath perhaps at the tip of the nose, at the nostrils. What sensations do you notice with each in breath and with each out breath? And then shifting your attention to the chest. Noticing any sensations of the chest expands with the in breath and falls away with the out breath.

And shifting your attention to focus on the abdomen now. Any sensations here as the breath enters the body and as it leaves the body. Now either staying with sensations of the breath in the abdomen or noticing where you feel the breath moving most distinctly, most vividly right now, And choosing to allow your attention to rest in this one place, the nose, the chest, or the abdomen. Wherever you choose, abiding here. Letting the focus of attention rest lightly in this place.

Noticing the sensations of the in breath and the out breath. Not trying to control the breath in any way at all. Simply allowing the breath to breathe itself. Perhaps for the next few breaths, particularly focusing on the sensations of breathing in. And now letting the in breath fade into the background, and for the next few breaths, focusing particularly on the sensations of breathing out.

And now allowing yourself to focus on the whole breath, in breath and out breath, following 1 or the other. And you may notice from time to time, sooner or later, your mind will wander away from the breath, and you get distracted by thoughts or feelings, by sounds or daydreams. As soon as you become aware that your attention has wandered away from the breath in this way, Simply noticing and acknowledging where the mind went. And then very gently escorting the attention back to the breath. Coming back.

And the mind will wander again and again. And so the task is simply to notice whenever it's wandered, and once again, bringing it back without giving yourself a hard time, without being critical or judgmental. Letting go, coming back over and over again, and beginning again with the next breath. Checking in from time to time to see if your posture is as you had intended it to be. Sitting here in an erect and dignified posture with the head balanced.

Breathing. And now expanding the attention to take in the whole of the breath, feeling the sensations of each in breath and each out breath at the tip of the nose, the chest, and the abdomen. Aligning your attention with the whole column of the breath, moment by moment. And then at a certain point, expanding the attention once again to take in the whole body sitting here breathing. Aware of the sensations of the breath, but also allowing yourself to become aware of any other sensations that are here right now in your body.

Perhaps the contact of the feet on the floor, the hands on your lap, Becoming aware of the sensations of contact of the body with whatever you're sitting on. Aware of the whole landscape of sensations in your body right now. From the surface of the skin right inside the body. Noticing how you can zoom in to particular sensations in one region of the body. Investigating with curiosity, what's here right now.

Noticing with precision the sensations within sensations. The changing, fluxing sensations in the body moment by moment. Feeling free now to tune in to a particular part of the body if you wish to explore it in more detail. And also noticing how we can sometimes zoom out to hold the whole body in awareness. Feeling free now to take time to explore how it is to be here, holding the whole landscape of the body in a spacious awareness.

When we sit for a long time in this way, thoughts and feelings come up and can take our attention a long way away from where we had intended it to be. So far, when this happens, the instructions have been simply to notice where the mind has gone, then gently and firmly to escort the attention back to the breath or body or back to whatever we had intended to be focusing on. Now there's a chance to explore a different way to respond to these thoughts and feelings and distractions. Especially, when we notice that our thoughts are repeatedly being pulled to the same theme again and again. Instead of bringing attention back from a thought or feeling, now seeing if it's possible to allow the thought or feeling to remain on the workbench of the mind.

Then shifting the attention into the body, seeing if you can become aware of any physical sensations in the body that come along with a thought or emotion. If there are unpleasant thoughts, perhaps noticing where in the body they may be tensing, bracing, contraction. Then when you've identified such sensations, deliberately moving the focus of attention to this part of the body. So if now you find distracting thoughts and feelings coming up, feeling free to explore this new way of responding to them, allowing them to remain, then deliberately moving your attention to where in the body these sensations are strongest. Perhaps imagining you could breathe into this region on the in breath and breathe out from it on the out breath just as you practiced in the body scan.

Not to change the sensations, but to explore them, to sense them clearly, opening to whatever is here. Perhaps even saying to yourself, it's okay. Let me feel it. Whatever it is, let me be open to it. Breathing into it on the in breath.

Breathing out from it on the out breath. And then if it stops pulling for your attention, simply coming back to the sensations of sitting and breathing. And if no particular difficulty or concern arises for you now, you may wish to experiment with this new way of responding by deliberately bringing to mind some concern or difficulty that's happening in your life at the moment. It doesn't have to be particularly big, but any situation or person or difficulty that you feel able to bring to mind for these moments. If nothing comes to mind, you could choose something from the past, either recent or distant that once caused some unpleasantness.

And so now, if you choose to do this, bringing such a difficulty to mind right now, letting it be here. And when it's come to mind, allowing it to remain on the workbench of the mind, And then deliberately moving your attention into the body. And noticing any physical sensations in the body that the difficulty brings with it. Deliberately bringing your attention to the place where the sensations are strongest, allowing them to be center stage in your awareness. As best you can, moving up close to this region of the body, investigating what precise sensations are here.

Becoming mindful of these physical sensations just as they are in each moment. Breathing into them on the in breath and out from them on the out breath. Opening to them. Perhaps even saying to yourself, whatever it is, let me be open to it. Then seeing if it's possible to stay with the awareness, exploring these bodily sensations and your reactions to them.

Breathing with them. Letting them be, allowing them to be just as they are as best you can. And as you breathe out, deepening the attitude of acceptance and openness, perhaps even saying the words silently to yourself, opening, softening on each out breath. Not to try to change the sensations themselves, but to explore them deeply with friendly curiosity and compassion. And if you have no sensations when you have a difficulty in mind, simply practicing breathing into any sensations you feel in the body, whether they feel that they're anything to do with this difficulty or not.

Reminding yourself from time to time, that you do not have to like these feelings. It's natural not to want to have them around. Perhaps even saying to yourself, it's okay not to want these feelings. They're already here. Let me be open to them.

Let me explore them as they are. And when you notice that the bodily sensations are no longer pulling your attention to the same degree, Either deciding simply to return a 100% to focus on sitting, on the breath moving in and out of the body from moment to moment, or if you want to do this experiment again, bringing to mind another difficulty and exploring it through the body. And in the last few moments of this sitting, bringing your attention back to the breath. Focusing on the sensations of the in breath and the out breath. Wherever you feel the breath moving most distinctly right now.

Allowing the attention to abide in this place, moment by moment, breath by breath. Using the breath to ground yourself in this moment. A source of strength, of presence, of peace.