Hey, it's Dora here, and welcome back to Radio Headspace.
So maybe you've had this experience where you sit down to meditate,
and instead of feeling calm, something else shows up.
Maybe it's sadness, frustration, or a kind of restlessness that wasn't obvious before, and it can feel surprising.
We often think of meditation as something that will make us feel better,
not something that brings up what feels uncomfortable.
I remember the first time this really stood out for me.
I was on retreat, and up until that point, I'd mostly been practicing focusing on my breath,
just noticing when the mind wandered and bringing it back.
And then one day, we switched to a different practice, loving kindness meditation,
where you offer well wishes first to yourself, then to people you care about,
and eventually to people you find difficult.
And that's where I noticed something.
Offering kindness to people I loved, that felt easy.
But when it came to people I struggled with, something in me reacted.
There was this tightening.
A resistance.
Almost like I didn't want to go there.
And after a few days of practicing like that, something else came up.
I was sitting there during one of these sessions and I felt this big wave of emotion.