1. Ease Deepens Awakening
Recognize that true awakening and success in practice, and life, comes from cultivating ease and relaxation, not from tension or striving.
2. Embodiment for Rumination
To break cycles of rumination and constant storytelling, bring your attention back to the body and its present sensations, allowing yourself to feel emotions without getting lost in their narratives.
3. Practice Elements for Embodiment
Engage in the elements practice by feeling the solidity of earth, fluidity of water, temperature of fire, and the ephemeral nature of air within and around you to foster grounding and interconnection.
4. Integrate Elements Daily
Apply the elements practice throughout your day by mentally noting the qualities of earth (solidity), water (fluidity), fire (temperature), and air (breath/movement) in your surroundings and body.
5. Use RAIN for Emotions
Utilize the RAIN technique (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) to skillfully process strong emotions, both during meditation and in daily life.
6. Mindful Discomfort Coping
When facing discomfort or pain, allow yourself to feel it fully, including crying, and actively seek ways to bring ease to your body through movement, rocking, or comfort measures, rather than pushing the experience away.
7. Address Shame as Mind State
If shame appears as looped thinking, return to your chosen meditation object; if it’s a strong emotion, use techniques like RAIN to allow it to dissipate naturally within the body.
8. Understand Shame vs. Guilt
Distinguish shame (‘I am wrong’) from guilt (‘I did something wrong’), recognizing that shame is generally not a useful emotion.
9. Alternate Meditation Focus Points
If focusing on your breath during meditation feels forced or unnatural, shift your attention to other body sensations like your hands, feet, or even your heartbeat. Lying down can also make breath meditation easier by promoting general relaxation.
10. Practice Nasal Breathing
Prioritize breathing through your nose in a relaxed way, as it’s easier to regulate and produces nitric oxide in the nasal passages, which is linked to a relaxation response in the nervous system.
11. Open Chest for Breath
When meditating, ensure your chest is open and not collapsed, allowing your breath to move freely without needing to sit ramrod straight.
12. Practice Non-Identification
Experiment with linguistic shifts like ’there is shame’ instead of ‘I am feeling shame,’ or ‘shame is being known’ to create distance and a different relationship with strong emotions.