In short
Podcast Summary: Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee
Episode Title
How to Sit With Difficult Feelings - Guided Meditation with Zen Master Henry Shukman #637
Overview In this episode of the "Feel Better, Live More" podcast, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee invites Zen Master Henry Shukman to lead a guided meditation focused on how to cope with difficult emotions. This episode is part of a community-driven meditation challenge aimed at building a daily meditation habit.
Key Concepts
- Simplified Health: Dr. Chatterjee emphasizes the importance of simplifying health practices to enhance well-being.
- Meditation Habit: The episode promotes a 30-day meditation challenge that encourages listeners to engage in daily meditation, illustrating its transformative power.
- Community Engagement: Over 22,000 participants from 178 countries have joined the meditation challenge, highlighting a global interest in mental and emotional wellness.
Highlights
- Meditation as a Tool: Meditation is presented as a powerful tool for self-discovery and emotional regulation. It can shift how individuals feel by allowing moments of stillness and reflection.
- Emotions and Meditation: Shukman discusses the importance of welcoming emotions during meditation rather than pushing them away. He references Rumi’s poem "The Guest House" to illustrate how all feelings—joyful or painful—should be embraced as part of the human experience.
- Guided Meditation: The meditation segment encourages participants to find a comfortable position and focus on their bodily sensations, fostering a sense of warmth and acceptance towards their feelings.
Meditation Guidance
- Setting the Scene: The meditation begins with participants finding a comfortable position, either seated or lying down.
- Emotional Awareness: Shukman prompts listeners to check in with their current feelings and promotes the idea of accepting emotions as they are, rather than trying to fix them.
- Cultivating Kindness: The meditation encourages a gentle, kind approach towards oneself, allowing emotions to be present without resistance.
Key Takeaways
- Join the Movement: Listeners are encouraged to sign up for the meditation challenge at [thewayapp.com/livemore](https://thewayapp.com/livemore) to access free sessions and additional resources.
- Practice and Patience: Building a meditation habit takes time and dedication, but the benefits extend beyond the individual, positively impacting those around them.
- Architect of Your Health: Dr. Chatterjee concludes with a reminder that individuals have control over their health through intentional lifestyle choices.
Additional Resources
- The Way App: A meditation app created by Henry Shukman, which can assist users in developing their meditation practice.
- Join the Challenge: Information about the 30-day meditation challenge and how to participate is available.
Conclusion This episode serves as both an introduction to meditation and a guide for managing difficult emotions, urging listeners to embrace their feelings and experience the benefits of mindfulness. By participating in the challenge, individuals can improve their mental health and overall quality of life.
---
*Disclaimer: Always consult a healthcare professional for medical advice and treatment.*
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOBuilding a Meditation Habit
0:46 to 2:18
Discussion on the growing community participating in a daily meditation challenge.
“And if you haven't started yet and want to, there's still plenty of time to take part.”
Understanding Emotions in Meditation
2:25 to 3:37
Henry Shukman discusses how to handle difficult emotions during meditation.
“In this one, we're going to be moving into a very important topic, actually, which is how to be with emotions that may come up when we're meditating.”
Guided Meditation on Welcoming Emotions
3:38 to 9:30
A guided meditation focused on accepting and welcoming emotions.
“Welcome and entertain them all, because each has been sent as a guide from the beyond.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:03Dr. Rangan Chatterjee:Hey guys, how are you doing? Hope you're having a good week so far. My name is Dr. Rangan Chatterjee and this is my podcast, Feel Better, Live More. Today is another short meditation from the wonderful Henry Shukman to give you a flavour of what meditation is and what it can actually feel like. Now, all throughout March, my podcast community has been building a simple daily meditation habit together. So far, over 22 ,000 people have joined this free 30-day challenge from 178 different countries, which is absolutely incredible. And if you haven't started yet and want to, there's still plenty of time to take part.
0:53Dr. Rangan Chatterjee:Now, just to give you a brief insight into how other people are finding the way meditation app which is henry's app this is just one of the many incredible comments i've received over the past few months hi dr chastity i have recently started using the way i have tried dozens of times to meditate but never found any other apps useful three months in with the way i have to say it's changed my life i used to think of meditation as just another chore, but now I actively look forward to it and I love the benefits I feel from the practice. Guys, that is exactly how I feel and why I'm so passionate about trying to inspire more and more people to give this practice a go.
1:45Dr. Rangan Chatterjee:So this March, why not join Henry and me and thousands, tens of thousands of other meditators on this 30-day journey, all you have to do to take part is go to thewayapp.com forward slash live more. You'll get practical tips, exclusive content, and 30 free short meditation sessions to get you going. I have also joined the challenge and I'm using the way app every day throughout the month and I very much hope you decide to join me. And now, here's another short, relaxing meditation from Henry.
2:23Henry Shukman:Welcome to another meditation with me, Henry Shukman. In this one, we're going to be moving into a very important topic, actually, which is how to be with emotions that may come up when we're meditating. It's a critical thing because meditation is this space where we sort of let go of the common ways that we hold ourselves together to move through our days. And we allow this deeper side of us to come forward. And we actually don't want to be pushing that away, but it may bring emotion with it. So it's really helpful to be able to host emotion, to be allowing of emotions that come up. And that actually helps defuse them.
3:13Henry Shukman:There's a wonderful poem by the Sufi poet Rumi called The Guest House, which I just want to share part of with you now, which expresses this so well. The Guest House. This being human is a guest house. Every morning, a new arrival, a joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all, because each has been sent as a guide from the beyond. So rather than rejecting feelings that come up, Rumi is encouraging us to host them, to welcome them, to allow them. So let's settle in for another meditation right now, where we'll explore how to do this.
4:06Henry Shukman:Yeah, get into a comfortable position. Now, usually meditation is done seated, but it can be done lying down or reclining. You don't need really any special equipment. Yeah, ordinary kitchen chair is just fine. your desk chair, edge of the bed, couch. Get comfortable. Check in with your body. Is it comfortable? If it's not, adjust it.
4:46Henry Shukman:We're coming back to ourselves always in meditation. So that means helping ourselves to be at ease, comfortable, starting with the body. So let's just have a moment now of being with the body in whatever position it's in. Close the eyes if they're not already closed and lower the gaze if the eyes are open. and let yourself feel your body in the posture that it's in and allow the whole body to become soft. Let a subtle softness pervade your body.
5:46Henry Shukman:and let's just check how we're doing. How are you feeling right now?
5:59Are you feeling open and spacious?
6:06Henry Shukman:Is there a certain kind of expansiveness present? Or are there subtle energies of tightness, of contractedness, or a certain trace level of stress, which is so common for us? is there a way that rather than feeling we should be trying to fix emotions that are uncomfortable instead we can allow them we can let them be present is there a way that we can be that welcoming host as if our field of experience, our own field of experience is a kind of guest house and whatever comes could be welcomed.
7:16Henry Shukman:What if we don't have to fix how we're feeling? What if it's actually okay to feel the way we feel? to welcome our emotional energies.
7:37Henry Shukman:You might see if you can bring a kind of warmth into your chest area, or perhaps into your whole upper body, your belly, your chest. Can you let them be warm and soft? maybe you can even get a sense of your chest and belly being like warm wax with a tenderness in them and perhaps that warm tenderness can welcome whatever feelings and emotions may be present and rather than having to do anything about them, we simply allow them.
8:34Henry Shukman:We welcome them. After all, they are part of who we are. And actually, it may only increase stress
8:47Dr. Rangan Chatterjee:to try to push stress away.
8:51Henry Shukman:What if instead there's a kindness, a patience in us already that knows how to welcome them, how to be with them, how to welcome all of what we are.
9:19Resting with all of who we are. Allowing all of who we are.
9:33turning a kind of a light of kindness onto ourselves
9:44Henry Shukman:a compassionate awareness that we all already have
9:59Henry Shukman:just resting a moment more in a state of allowing and kindness
10:15okay let's
10:16Henry Shukman:gently come out of the meditation bring movement into hands and feet, raise your gaze, have a little stretch if that feels supportive and nice, and congratulate yourselves on having done another meditation. Thank yourself for giving yourself this time to be with who you really are. This is the heart of meditation, being with who we really are.
10:51Dr. Rangan Chatterjee:Thank you very much for joining me.
11:21Dr. Rangan Chatterjee:forward slash live more to sign up and receive practical tips, exclusive content, and 30 free meditation sessions to get you started.
11:36Dr. Rangan Chatterjee:If you enjoyed today's episode, it is always appreciated if you can take a moment to share the podcast with your friends and family or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful week. And always remember, you are the architect of your own health. Making lifestyle change is always worth it because when you feel better you live more.
From the publisher
All through March, our community has been building a simple daily meditation habit — and if you haven’t started yet, there’s still plenty of time to join us.
Here’s a beautiful meditation from Henry, just for the Feel Better, Live More
community. It’s amazing how taking a few moments of stillness, where we put down the to-do list and just drop into being, can really shift how we feel.
Meditation is an incredibly powerful tool for transforming our lives. But like any positive habit, it can be a hard thing to start and maintain. That’s why I love challenges — short, intensive commitments that help us to really kickstart a new habit or reinforce one we love.
Throughout March, here at Feel Better, Live More, I’ve teamed up with Zen master Henry Shukman and his meditation app The Way, to bring you our
first-ever Meditation Challenge, to help turbocharge your meditation practice. After meeting Henry last year, I've become a huge fan of his meditation app, The Way. I use it myself most days and really believe in what they're doing - so much that I've personally invested in the company.
It doesn’t matter when you start, committing to 30 days of meditation has the power to not only improve your life, but the life of those around you too.
Visit thewayapp.com/livemore to sign up, access 30 free meditation sessions and join the movement.
Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/637
DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
