This 30 second meditation practice can help you to learn to navigate moments of difficulty more skillfully. What if I told you there are thirty seconds between you and peace with mindfulness practice?
When we encounter unpleasant experiences, the habitual pattern of the mind is to attempt to push them away, escape or get caught in wanting them to be other than they are. As we become entangled in these habitual patterns, we’re often overcome by a feeling that the unpleasantness will last forever and leave us in a state of perpetual discomfort or suffering.
This pattern may arise when we’re in a challenging physical activity, a conversation in which we feel entrapped or any situation in which we experience an unpleasant physical, emotional or mental state. This way of perceiving things often leads to increased feelings of discomfort. If the situation poses no physical danger, it may be possible to decrease our suffering by taking a deep breath and meeting our impulse to escape with friendliness a gentle internal inquiry—“What would it be like to stay for a 30 second meditation?”
Often this 30 second pause helps us to change our perspective, and sometimes we may notice that the outer circumstances may change within time period as well. Everything is impermanent and like a wave, it rises, crests and falls, even when our mind is convinced that whatever is happening will last for an eternity. As we learn to meet difficult moments with mindfulness and greater ease, our resilience for present and future difficulty grows.
Your ability to cope with trouble depends upon your attitude. –Bhante Gunaratana
I’m honored to be Teacher in Residence at Wells College working with the theatre, psychology, and creative writing departments. I will offer two presentations that week that are free and open to the public. I’ll be teaching an introduction to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Thursday March 10 from 7-9pm I’ll be teaching The Heart of Self-Compassion: Making Peace with Your Inner Critic.
Jen Johnson teaches mindfulness based stress reduction MBSR online and Mindful Writing workshops.