Skip to content

Do You Need Support With Attending a Course?

Members Login

Apps

Find a Teacher

Facebook page opens in new windowTwitter page opens in new windowInstagram page opens in new window
Mindfulness Association
Being Present | Responding with Compassion | Seeing Deeply
Mindfulness AssociationMindfulness Association
  • Mindfulness Courses
    • Start Mindfulness
    • Level 2 – Compassion
    • Level 3 – Insight
    • Level 4 – Wisdom
    • Mindfulness Teacher Training Courses
      • Teaching – Level 1
      • Teaching – Level 2 (MBLC)
      • Teaching – Level 2 – (MBLC-YA) Teens
      • Teaching – Level 3 (CBLC)
      • Mindfulness Based Healthy Living Teacher Training
      • Teacher Training Package
      • Supervision for Mindfulness Teachers
      • Mindfulness Teacher Continuing Professional Development
      • Fundamentals of Inquiry Course for Teachers of Mindfulness
    • Mindfulness for Life
      • Mystical Poetry Of Mindfulness And Impermanence Practice Day
      • Mindfulness Based Healthy Living- Online
      • Engaged Mindfulness – Online
      • Mindfulness meets Mystical Poetry – Online
      • Living Well to Die Well Mindfulness Course
      • Mindful Movement with QiGong Course
        • Stillness Through Movement Level 1- Mindfulness -Online
        • Stillness Through Movement Level 2 – Compassion – Online
        • Stillness Through Movement Level 3 – Insight – Online
    • Online Courses
      • Online Taught Courses
      • Online Mindfulness Courses by Email
        • Free Online Introduction to Mindfulness
        • Introduction to Mindfulness
        • Introduction to Compassion Course
        • Introduction to Insight
    • Masters Degrees
      • MSc Studies in Mindfulness
      • MSc Mindfulness & Compassion
  • Mindfulness Retreats
    • Weekend Retreats
      • Compassionate Imagery for Resilience Weekend
      • Mindfulness for Busy Lives Weekend
      • Mindfulness In Nature Weekend (Online and Samye Ling)
      • Introduction to Compassion Weekend (Online and Samye Ling)
      • Mindfulness in Nature Weekend (Online and London)
      • Poetry for Mindfulness and Compassion Weekend
      • Introduction to Compassion Weekend (Online and London)
      • Introduction to Compassion (Online and London)
      • Mindfulness, Qigong and Yoga Weekend
    • Cultivating Presence Online Retreat for Mindfulness Teachers
    • Making Space Online Retreat for MA Members
    • Mindfulness for Life Retreat
  • Words & Blogs
    • What is Mindfulness?
    • Science of Mindfulness
    • Heather’s Musings
    • Mindfulness Poetry
    • Meditation Challenge
    • Mindfulness and EDI Research
    • Sits and Teachings
    • Mindfulness Research
    • Mindfulness Recommended Reading
  • Membership
    • Free Members Retreat Weekend Online
    • Cultivating Presence Online Retreat for Mindfulness Teachers
    • Making Space Online Retreat for MA Members
  • About Us
    • Mindfulness Association Tutors
    • Mindfulness Association Training Venues
  • News & Events
    • Mindfulness Freebies
  • Mindfulness Courses
    • Start Mindfulness
    • Level 2 – Compassion
    • Level 3 – Insight
    • Level 4 – Wisdom
    • Mindfulness Teacher Training Courses
      • Teaching – Level 1
      • Teaching – Level 2 (MBLC)
      • Teaching – Level 2 – (MBLC-YA) Teens
      • Teaching – Level 3 (CBLC)
      • Mindfulness Based Healthy Living Teacher Training
      • Teacher Training Package
      • Supervision for Mindfulness Teachers
      • Mindfulness Teacher Continuing Professional Development
      • Fundamentals of Inquiry Course for Teachers of Mindfulness
    • Mindfulness for Life
      • Mystical Poetry Of Mindfulness And Impermanence Practice Day
      • Mindfulness Based Healthy Living- Online
      • Engaged Mindfulness – Online
      • Mindfulness meets Mystical Poetry – Online
      • Living Well to Die Well Mindfulness Course
      • Mindful Movement with QiGong Course
        • Stillness Through Movement Level 1- Mindfulness -Online
        • Stillness Through Movement Level 2 – Compassion – Online
        • Stillness Through Movement Level 3 – Insight – Online
    • Online Courses
      • Online Taught Courses
      • Online Mindfulness Courses by Email
        • Free Online Introduction to Mindfulness
        • Introduction to Mindfulness
        • Introduction to Compassion Course
        • Introduction to Insight
    • Masters Degrees
      • MSc Studies in Mindfulness
      • MSc Mindfulness & Compassion
  • Mindfulness Retreats
    • Weekend Retreats
      • Compassionate Imagery for Resilience Weekend
      • Mindfulness for Busy Lives Weekend
      • Mindfulness In Nature Weekend (Online and Samye Ling)
      • Introduction to Compassion Weekend (Online and Samye Ling)
      • Mindfulness in Nature Weekend (Online and London)
      • Poetry for Mindfulness and Compassion Weekend
      • Introduction to Compassion Weekend (Online and London)
      • Introduction to Compassion (Online and London)
      • Mindfulness, Qigong and Yoga Weekend
    • Cultivating Presence Online Retreat for Mindfulness Teachers
    • Making Space Online Retreat for MA Members
    • Mindfulness for Life Retreat
  • Words & Blogs
    • What is Mindfulness?
    • Science of Mindfulness
    • Heather’s Musings
    • Mindfulness Poetry
    • Meditation Challenge
    • Mindfulness and EDI Research
    • Sits and Teachings
    • Mindfulness Research
    • Mindfulness Recommended Reading
  • Membership
    • Free Members Retreat Weekend Online
    • Cultivating Presence Online Retreat for Mindfulness Teachers
    • Making Space Online Retreat for MA Members
  • About Us
    • Mindfulness Association Tutors
    • Mindfulness Association Training Venues
  • News & Events
    • Mindfulness Freebies

Stress in the Mess

You are here:
  1. Home
  2. Meditation Challenge
  3. Stress in the Mess
Dec22020
Meditation Challengestress-in-the-mess

“Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.” Pema Chödrön

Well last week stress got the better of me. I forgot I was a mindfulness teacher let alone a mindfulness practitioner and I drowned in stress. It crept up on me slowly. I thought I was on it at first.  It wasn’t until I could feel myself drowning that I realised. Just like we get lost in thinking all the time, it was just as easy to get lost in stress.

I could feel my heart racing, my blood felt like treacle in my body, I felt lethargic, heavy and tired. It all seemed just too much.  That’s when I knew.

Sometimes it takes a moment of overwhelm or not feeling quite right to stop and take a look at what’s going on.

So, there were a lot of complicated things going on. Life things. I had just completed a 6-day Compassion retreat with Heather then drove 200 miles the next day to begin clearing the family home.  Yes, relationships break down sometimes and it then causes a big mess. In my case, the most compassionate thing I could do was walk away. And now it was time to face the mess. Clearing a house and moving possessions hundreds of miles is stressful at the best of times. But in the middle of a pandemic made it far worse.

Overwhelm of so much to do and physical stress took over as I sorted, filled bin bags, bags for charity and boxed up my possessions.  The worst places were the attic and garage where everything was dusty and dirty. I found hundreds of old photos bursting with young happy faces, scenes of places travelled, and people loved and lost.  There were boxes of stuff still untouched when I cleared my late parents’ possessions from their home when they died.  They will come with me, some 17 years on, still intact, still to sort out. How could I possibly have so much stuff? Items became like hot potatoes as they drifted between keep to dispose piles. So much time spent on deciding. I felt resentment building. I really didn’t want to be doing this. I was feeling edgy and irritable. I felt like i had a huge load on my back and my shoulders were tight and my body ached.  I really didn’t want to feel this way either.

I suddenly recognise that I have forgotten to be mindful and compassionate.

I am a compassionate mess, spectacularly flawed and I fail epically again and again. Heather’s words from the retreat bounce around my mind. At the end of the day, I am human and at the mercy of human emotions and human body.

And it is all so inconvenient to feel this way.  It is timely to be reading a book recommended by one of our members from the Members Monday practice group.  Pema Chödrön’s words of wisdom and comfort resonate as she describes how she sometimes feels irritable and snappy with others.  This makes me feel less alone in my mess. In Pema Chödröns words ‘I feel horrible and not want to pretend that I feel good.’ Yet, not feeling good has an impact on those around me and that makes me feel like a failure.  I am a failed mindfulness practitioner. How on earth can I teach this stuff if I can’t do it myself?

I watched the self-critic take over. The energy of negativity is intense and strong, like a magnet.

I feel exhausted and lay on the bed. I play a recording of a guided yoga nidra Heather recommended to me. I emerge the other side with renewed energy and positivity. I feel stilled and calmer. I then reach for the Mindfulness Association app and do one of the guided compassion practices. I can feel myself becoming more grounded and centred.  Breathe. Just be still and breathe. All will be well.

Acceptance creeps in like a gentle wave, gradually calming and opening to the experience I am going through, in this moment, as a flawed human being.

I thought I had forgotten to be mindful, I hadn’t. I was acutely aware of everything I was doing, seeing and feeling. It has become second nature.  But in that I had forgotten the key ingredient of being kind and compassionate towards myself for this overwhelming and exhausting time.

That is why ‘compassion is at the heart of everything the Mindfulness Association does’, and compassion is woven into all its mindfulness training. As we become more mindful we begin to see more of the mess we are in as part of our being human experience and we need to be a bit kind to ourselves for this.

 

Weekly Challenge

I invite you to check in with how you are feeling right now. Is there a situation you are facing which is overwhelming and feels ‘inconvenient’ to feel messy.  Can you be kind to yourself in this?

 

Take good care

Warmest wishes

 

Jacky

 

Jacky will be guiding the Mindfulness Level One Being Present Online Course over 16 Wednesday evening sessions starting 3rd February, 2021 and guiding the Mindfulness Level One Being Present Course Scheduled to be held at Samye Ling with Alan Hughes, starting 5th November 2021.  She is also guiding a one day practice day – Stillness Through Movement on 30th December and running a new Stillness Through Movement 6 week Online Course starting Tuesday evenings on 12th January 2021.

 

Jacky has contributed a chapter to the Mindful Heroes Book entitled “Turning Empathic Distress into Compassion – A Hero’s Journey for Family Carers”.  You can hear an extract from the chapter where she talks about the results of her MSc Studies in Mindfulness on Compassion & Family Carers. You can download a free sample of Jacky’s chapter here.

 

References:

Chödrön, P., 2010. The wisdom of no escape: And the path of loving-kindness. Shambhala Publications.

 

 

Jacky Seery
Jacky Seery

Tutor and Communications Team

Jacky Seery works for the Mindfulness Association as Communications Manager, running and managing their Membership program with Lisa. She is also a MA tutor for Mindfulness and Compassion courses within the UK. Jacky also teachers mindful movement through Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga.  Jacky graduated with MSc in Mindfulness Studies with the University of Aberdeen in 2018, having conducted in depth research in relation to the impact of a mindfulness course on family carers.

stress-in-the-mess

You are here:
  1. Home
  2. Media
  3. stress-in-the-mess

stress-in-the-mess

stress-in-the-mess

  • FAQ’s
  • Privacy Policy
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy
  • Terms and conditions

58 Thirlestane Road
Edinburgh
Midlothian
EH9 1AR

Contact us at info@mindfulnessassociation.net

  • © 2008 - 2023 Mindfulness Association
Go to Top
Accept Cookies
We use cookies on our site. Please click accept or review the cookie settings Cookie settingsAccept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT