Sitting with discomfort

I've had a week.  Maybe it was the full moon, or Lion's Gate portal or Mercury retrograde! Maybe it was the horror of seeing people, babies, being starved. Innocent people dying. Mad men with too much power and no responsibility. Who knows?

In any case, emotions were high, I was depleted after lots of travel and learning and fun. My mind was uneasy. And then I heard Martha Beck on her podcast The Gathering Room explain how in the past, when she was angry or anxious or depressed or in any heightened state, people would tell her; let it go.

I'm pretty sure you've been told that before too. She explained so beautifully how impossible that was. That she didn't have "it". Instead "it" had her. So she couldn't let it go. No matter how she tried.

So one day she decided to do the opposite. To let it stay. To sit in total acceptance that it was just going to be there. Instead of getting up and doing something about it. Instead of ignoring it and getting on with life.

So I tried it. This making space for whatever is arising. And in the space, something shifted. Some weight was lifted. Some ease was granted. It didn't feel so big and overwhelming anymore.

In fact, this is the essence of meditation practice. To make space for whatever is unfolding. It's learning to stay. And to not be pulled into problem solving, or distraction, or justifying, or rationalising, or blame, or self hatred. To just sit with it all, as scary or uncomfortable as that may be, and love ourselves through it. Give it a go and tell me if it helps.