Being with the Stress of a Changing World: A Guided Meditation

An invitation to gentle presence and self-kindness in the face of big emotions.

I have to admit that the news stresses me out more and more lately. I used to be able to stay informed and feel like I could process what I was learning and find ways, even if tiny, to alchemize what I learned into actions where appropriate. Now, I’m titrating news, trying to find a way to stay informed without overwhelming my system.

We live in challenging times, with seemingly endless torrents of upheaval, climate disasters, and social and political aggression. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, anxious, even powerless. It can feel like the world is shifting beneath our feet, and it is. Because everything is constantly changing, and the pace of change is accelerating rapidly due to AI. 

I write this because, if you’re feeling this stress, too, I want you to know you’re not alone. And here’s what I want to remind you: it’s okay to feel uncertain, frustrated, or overwhelmed. These emotions are part of being human and natural responses to a complex world.

The question is: How can we be with these feelings in a way that doesn’t burn us out or disconnect us from ourselves and others? How can we hold the tension of change while staying grounded and open?

How Do We Practice Being with Our Pain?

I’ve mentioned before that I’m in a two-year training to become a mindfulness teacher, a path that feels very aligned with my hope to be of service in this life. This past week, I led a meditation on being with painful emotions. It felt so great to hold space for allowing pain (which might sound weird, I know). But so often we are conditioned to push pain away. And what we resist persists. So, holding skillful space for our pain is a courageous human skill we can all practice in order to expand our capacity in both difficult and joyful times. 

How do we practice being with our pain? The answer is found in gentle presence and self-kindness. Mindfulness invites us to become intimate with our pain points, not push them away, but meet them with curiosity, honesty, and compassion. How can you give yourself permission to feel deeply, without judgment? Just for a little while. It’s not easy to do because our judging mind can pop up, trying to “protect” us from being hurt. But our pain points are portals for deep wisdom, and we can only learn their lessons if we have the strength to be with what hurts without abandoning ourselves. It takes practice.

Being with your pain doesn’t mean surrendering or giving up or being consumed by your pain. It means making space inside ourselves, becoming curious about what’s really here, without overidentifying with it. When we do this, we can see that our pain points have edges, deep centers, holes even. They become more porous, and this is where the room for wisdom arises. “There’s a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in,” says Leonard Cohen. When we recognize the porous nature of pain, we deepen our ability to respond with clarity rather than react or avoid. Cultivating this inner skill strengthens our resources and our ability to respond to change with courage and care.

So, if, like me, the world has felt overwhelming and you’re in need of some grounding so you can act with skill, start small. Breathe. Check in with your body. Offer yourself kindness. This is how the deep work of transformation begins, from the inside out.

Being with the Stress of a Changing World

A Short Guided Mindfulness Practice

This is a shortened version of the meditation I offered to my class this week. It begins with a moment of mindful breathing and then offers a way to investigate your pain points with compassion. I hope it brings you some ease if you need it.

• Sit comfortably. Close your eyes if you like. Take a moment to settle your attention with a few deep, full breaths
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• Feel your body resting here and now. Once you feel settled in, take a moment to scan your body. Notice if any areas feel tight, tense, or uncomfortable. Notice if any difficult emotions are here. You don’t need to fix anything. Just notice.
  
• If you find a spot that’s calling your attention, invite a sense of openness there. See if you can soften around it, allowing space and kindness and honesty for what you’re feeling. Investigate lightly.
  
• Notice if you feel you want to push away any discomfort, or tense to protect yourself. See if you can let go of that tension, even just a little, and maybe even invite a small message of acceptance. You could silently say to yourself, “Yes, I see you and you’re welcome here, too.”
  
• Breathe through that invitation. Allow the body to become a little more spacious with each breath.
  
• If the feelings feel strong or overwhelming, bring your awareness to a part of your body that feels neutral or easy, maybe your hands resting, or your feet on the floor. Breathe into this place of ease. This is your refuge. Your reminder that even when things are hard, there’s space for ease and care.
  
• Slowly, let your attention move back and forth between the discomfort and the ease. Notice how the sensations shift as you do.
  
• Remember, you are not your stress or anxiety. You are the calm, steady presence that can hold these feelings with kindness.
  
• Take one more deep breath in, and exhale fully. When you’re ready, gently open your eyes.
  

Carry this invitation to gentleness with you as you navigate this beautiful, complex world, that needs your clear, open heart now more than ever.