For more info about this series please go to https://wordpress.com/post/catherinestrang.com/1455 This post takes 2-3 minutes to read and the meditation is whatever you choose.

When we feel agitated, unfocused or upset it can seem difficult if not impossible to meditate but often this is when it’s the most productive. If you can’t settle down to meditate it’s not because you are unable to or that there’s a deficiency somewhere, it’s merely because what you are experiencing is something you’ve not yet learnt how to deal with. It’s almost like learning the basics of a language academically and getting frustrated when you don’t know how to hold a conversation with a native speaker in a slightly different dialect!

There are many, many ways to meditate and all of them will lead to deep peace when persevered with but only a few of these forms of meditation will actually be ideal for you. Spend some time with each one that you are drawn to and this is the point, try different ways of meditating, learn nuances from one that you wouldn’t get from another. There’s often a lack of teaching on the hows of meditation, a lack of practical advice – as if that’s cheating somehow?!

If you have a lot going on in your life – either externally or internally – then it will probably be a lot more productive to simply try relaxation techniques instead of meditation. All the audios I have done contain relaxation protocols making them a lot easier to do and relax into.

If even relaxation is difficult this is usually because there is too much going on that needs to be dealt with, this is the reason why, in a series of posts about peacefulness, that I have spent a fair amount of time on the basics of release. On facing and clearing what’s going on under the surface that would prevent peacefulness, or even just preventing a full blown breakdown if there’s too much going on in your life or too much stuff is coming up to the surface.

We are, obviously, going through very uncertain times, the world will never be the same again and that is a good thing but it doesn’t necessarily mean the transition will be easy. The only thing we truly have control over is our inner world and that begins with finding some semblance of peacefulness. So, in the spirit of the very first post in this series, what do you want right now; right now in this moment? Acknowledge this, take a deep breath and allow yourself to relax into whatever is here right now.

If agitated try the My Truth Is… exercise or the release of uncomfortable feelings meditation. If you simply wish to relax and detach a little then I have included below The Witness Meditation again. Below that is the dealing with overwhelm and painful feelings audio if you wish to revisit that.

Tomorrow I will post some general tips for quieting the mind that can be used at the beginning of a meditation practice.