Start
- Find a quiet place where you can sit up straight and comfortably, such as the edge of your bed, the floor, or a chair.
- Close your eyes and focus on your breathing or another focal point to be fully present.
- Relax your body by loosening your shoulders, loosening your jaw, and softening your eyebrows.
Mindful meditation to reframe your reactions
We all have bad days here and there, but when we’re hit with an endless string of bad luck, our first reaction is to run away from the darkness or push those unpleasant feelings away and try to overcome them. You might try to turn your streak around.
And this is possible, but Seem Just like an optimistic approach to life, running away from emotions has its limits. We snowball our resistance into action, creating a storm of anxiety and overwhelm that consumes us in the long run. If you’re dealing with chronic pain, resisting can make your pain even worse.
It may seem counterintuitive, but allowing thoughts to be thoughts and emotions to be emotions is the key to letting these emotions pass naturally. See them as ocean waves that come and go. When you observe them without getting caught up in the waves, you realize that you are in control of how you experience them, rather than anxious.
This meditation is also part of Verywell Mind’s 30-day meditation email series. Pause and play. Sign up here to subscribe and continue your mindfulness journey with us. Check out our meditation library for more videos.
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