A Meditation to Return to Ourselves When Practicing Feels Impossible

If you feel burned out, discouraged and disconnected from all the struggle and suffering in the world, you are not alone. In times of intense upheaval, practicing mindfulness can feel impossible. Try this simple, basic meditation to pause, reconnect with compassion and clarity, and come back to yourself.

Many of us are witnessing suffering all over the planet every day. We care about others, and we desperately want to be useful—and seeing horrible things in pictures and videos and stories every day can be deeply unsettling to our nervous system.

When we are overwhelmed by this dangerous trauma, we shut down. We become disconnected to ourselves and to each other. We are so caught up in our anxiety, anger or overwhelm that it can feel impossible to engage. anyone Practicing mindfulness or meditation.

This week, Shalini Bahl offers gentle and practical guidance for stopping, reconnecting, and returning to yourself and your essential practice during times of intense inner and outer upheaval.

Meditation to return to yourself when it feels impossible to practice

Pausing after each paragraph, read and follow the guided meditation script below. Or listen to the practice audio.

1. Welcome and thank you for being hereThere are a gazillion things you can do with your time to exercise enough care. What the world needs right now are people who can stay grounded as we all engage with this suffering with open hearts and minds, people who can act with wisdom instead of being overwhelmed. People who haven’t lost themselves in the chaos. But we lose ourselves, all of us.
2. As we witness crisis after crisis, our nervous systems become disorganized. We lose touch with our wisdom, our intentions, our sense of what to do. This practice helps us return.
3. We will go through three routes to get back to our house. First, the interior calm downwhere you come back to clarity and agency. Then CompassionWhere we are going to reconnect with our humanity and others. And finally Curiositywhere you find out what you have to do, what is possible for you to do. If you find a path that calls to you more than others, feel free to stay there longer. Trust what you need most. So ready to get started?
4. Come to a posture that feels supported, lying down or sitting. Feel the length of your spine and the back of your neck. Roll your shoulders up, back and down. When you feel ready, lower or close your eyes.
5. From this place of presence let’s begin by taking three intentional breaths. Inhale through the nose and slowly exhale through the mouth. If you want, you can make a sigh as you exhale.
6. Now go back to your natural breathing rhythm. Invite your mind to relax into awareness of the direct sensations of breathing with your body, with your breath, in your heart area. Focus your attention on one area of ​​your body, the area of ​​your heart, as you breathe in, perhaps looking at the birth space in your chest. And as you breathe in, let go of any rush, any expectations or judgments for those few minutes.
7. If you want, place one or both hands on your chest. Especially on days when our minds are busy, we feel scattered. Placing one or both hands on the chest really calms the nervous system. Feel the warmth or coolness of your hands. Feel your chest rise and fall under your hand, connect with your body, feel the beating heart.
8. Give your full attention and attention to each inhalation, each exhalation and the rest in between. Notice the place where your breath goes out. And a little pause before the new breath enters the body.
9. From time to time, your mind may wander, and that’s natural. As soon as you feel this, kindly invite your mind to return to this place of relaxation and awareness in your heart area. Connect with your direct experience of breathing, just as you are. And notice if there is any effort going on here, even let go of any attempt to meditate as the breath moves itself and your awareness. What you are doing is returning to your awareness of the breath moving smoothly in and out of your body.
10. Just for these few moments, allow yourself to relax. To replenish oneself, to realize resources. And once your mind and body feel stable, listen within, ask yourself: What will help you feel comfortable? What will take care of yourself in this moment? It can be as simple as turning to yourself with kindness, appreciating the goodness of your heart and mind. To listen to the times you need more, more rest, more movement, connection. Hold yourself with your own loving kindness.
11. Goodness, with that innate ability to empathize, gently note who you’ve been harsh with today. You don’t have to start with the hardest person, whose actions feel unforgivable. Start with something simple. Maybe someone said something online that rubbed you the wrong way. No one may understand or see you. Maybe a family member, a colleague, a stranger. Or maybe yourself. Kindly, just look at the toughness. No need to replace or fix it. Just feel it stay in your body, in your chest or stomach, in your throat. Breathe in to make room for it, to make room around it.
12. Recognize this hardness, protect it. You have seen unbearable things. You are hurt. Toughness makes sense. And it is also disconnected. Disconnected from our relative intelligence, from our ability to see our shared humanity. And if it helps, gently invoke this question: What if you had grown up in their situation? What if you had the same information, the same upbringing, the same experiences? who will you be Can you be a little lenient when you think about it? That we are all shaped by causes and circumstances, often beyond our control. You may not agree with them or even condone what they are doing. Can you consider saying that this person has been hurt like me? Does this person want to be happy like me?
13. Using your breath as an anchor to connect to yourself and your good heart—can you feel that invisible thread connecting you? Both of you are breathing the same air, drinking the same water. Living on this one planet we all call home.
14. Take a few moments to listen within. What changes when we touch this common humanity?
15. From this place of connection to ourselves and our shared humanity, let’s explore what is important to you, what is possible, and what you need to do. So back to our open awareness. What is most important to you at this moment? Take this time to reconnect with your deepest intentions and values. You can ask questions like: What am I not seeing? What is your body trying to tell you that your mind is missing?
16. Without trying to find anything specific or looking for answers, just being connected to your body. Trust your inner knowing as you consider the possibilities of actions you can take that align with your intentions, with your unique gifts, with your values. What if there’s something you haven’t tried yet? Some perspective you hadn’t considered or some combination you hadn’t imagined? Open your mind and heart to new possibilities. Even if you don’t get specific answers yet, just hold on to the question, willing to love the unanswered question and keep the question alive.
17. From this place of open curiosity, willing to see what you’re missing, ask what’s actually possible here. Not what you’ve always done, not what everyone else is doing or telling you to do, but what you have to do and what will actually help if you need more clarification. Try journaling, being in nature, and any other activity that helps you come back to yourself to feel connected, alive, present to the gift of this life right now on planet earth.
18. Even as we finish this exercise, remember that you can come back at any time. Whenever you find yourself lost in the shuffle, in anger and apathy, you can return to your inner peace, your compassion, and your natural ability to keep an open and curious mind. This is where clarity, humanity and creativity reside.

Thank you for your practice. May our practice benefit us and all beings benefit.