Sometimes, when I’m meditating, I’ll feel anger. Other times, frustration. Other times, sadness. Or a whole range of possible emotions.
I used to think, “oh no, there’s anger”, and berate myself – a good meditator shouldn’t be angry, should they?
But I’ve learned through practice, through guidance from my teachers, and through lots of reading, that emotions will come and go, and it’s okay. It’s as Gil Fronsdal states:
No emotion is inappropriate within the field of our mindfulness practice. We are trying to allow them to exist as they arise, without reactivity, without the additional complications of judgment, evaluation, preferences, aversion, desires, clinging or resistance.
I like that Gil says “we are trying to allow them to exist as they arise”. I’m getting better at this – but it’s a practice. On those occasions I lapse into reactivity, I can gently, gently return, with kindness, to the actual experience, or to the breath.
I find that I can approach many of these sticky emotions with humor now. Listening to Sharon’s Day 15 meditation on mental noting left me giggling when she suggests we check in on the kind of mental noting… just the way she said, “Thinking!” in a fretful way – so when I find a bit of frustration during a sit, I can giggle at my “Thinking!”
I also came across another humorous example of how the mind can be busy during meditation, which helps me find humor on “those days”.
If Your Brain Could Text You While You Meditate
With best wishes for week 3,
Andrea G