Zooming in
Cut through the narrative of an unpleasant experience by dropping into the felt sense of the body. Really zoom in on how the unpleasant experience is experienced in the body. Notice the raw, immediate physical sensations like tightness, warmth, pressure, heaviness, hardness, softness, tingling etc.
Although most of us experience our lives from somewhere up in our heads, just behind our eyes, we are embodied creatures. And when any unpleasant experience arises, whether a thought, emotion, bodily sensation, perception or anything else, there will always be some (re)activity in the body. So notice this. Not by engaging with a story or narrative about it, but just noticing the bare physical sensations in the body. If you are experiencing a strong emotion like anxiety, shame, or anger, then really zoom in on the predominant sensations in the body. Is there tightness or pressure in the belly or chest, what does this tightness feel like? Paying attention to the body in this way, a strong emotion like anxiety can become nothing more than an unpleasant collection of physical sensations that are much easier to be present with than ‘anxiety’. Stay with these sensations for some time and notice what happens to the ‘charge’ of the emotion.
Zooming out
What else is here?
Another way of opening to unpleasant experiences is to touch in with the broader context in which they are arising. Often when we experience something unpleasant, say a strong emotion, we imagine it to be the totality of our experience at that time. But is this really so?
When an unpleasant experience arises, say an unpleasant emotion or sensation in the body, again notice how it shows up in the body, but then ask yourself ‘what else is here’?
Whilst staying connected to the unpleasant experience in the body, can you also open to whatever else is present in your experience? Any sounds, any other sensations in the body e.g. in the feet or hands, or maybe even any other emotions in the body. Expanding your awareness to see what else is present can reveal the more open context in which unpleasant experiences arise as only a small part. You are always greater than the unpleasant experience, so practice experiencing this directly.
