Transcript

#793: How to Calm Your Inner Storm — A Guided Meditation to Tame Restlessness with Zen Master Henry Shukman

0:00 Hello, boys and girls, ladies and germs. This is Tim Ferris. Welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferris Show. This episode is a brand new experiment called Meditation Monday. That means in addition to my long form interviews each week, every Monday, I will be bringing you a short 10 minute or so meditation, which will help you for the rest of the week. Over this four episode series, you'll develop a Zen toolkit specifically to help you find greater calm, peace, and effectiveness in your daily life. The teacher, Henry Shuchman, has been on my podcast twice before. He is one of only a few dozen masters in the world authorized to teach what is called Sambozen, and I have found this particularly interesting and effective, and now he'll be your teacher. I've been using Henry's app, The Way. Once

0:42 Often twice a day for the last few months, and it has lowered my anxiety more than I thought. possible. As a listener of the show, you yourself can get thirty free sessions. by visiting the wayapp.com slash Tim. So if you like what you hear in these meditations, which will be valuable in and of themselves, you can get thirty free sessions by going to the wayapp.com slash Tim. And for the time being, please enjoy this meditation Monday with Henry Shookman. Welcome back to Meditation Monday.

1:14 Many of us Of course, have difficult emotions at times. And meditation Might seem to exacerbate them sometimes because we're as it were more exposed to them.

1:27 We haven't got distractions. Other things we can turn to. We're just sitting still and doing nothing, so if a difficult emotion comes up, there's kinda nowhere to hide. Now in early Buddhism uh these kinds of emotions things like Uh worry, regret.

1:45 Frustration. craving Aversion or dislike, strong dislike. Um were were viewed actually as hindrances to meditation.

1:56 That they would make us Not want to meditate. They'd make it harder to To meditate. And I think it's Quite a helpful lens to recognize.

2:06 That Difficult emotions. are a problem, as it were, in meditation. In that they will discourage us from doing it. So

2:14 Fortunately, we have tools. For Being with Difficult emotion. And

2:21 Actually What they often lead to is a kind of restlessness. Get me out of here. You know, when we're trying to meditate. So I wanna I wanna do a sit now.

2:33 That offers a tool for working with restlessness and emotions that might be associated with it. S I hope you find this helpful. Let's let's come into our seated Comfortable.

2:47 Position. And just a footnote, if you want to recline, you you go right ahead. We just want to be comfortable, that's the main thing. Because when we're comfortable. It's easier.

3:01 To relax. And when we start relaxing Is easier. To be still. And

3:10 In some ways it might be that the most powerful agent In meditation. is simply being Still. Little lessons and learnings.

3:26 And shifts and transformations that meditation can offer simply come from. Stillness. So that's Give ourselves. Time to

3:41 To be comfortable. To arrive here. To come into being. Here. Into this space where

3:57 Nothing is asked of us. Nothing we need to do. We're really getting to put down. The burden of doing. All the responsibility is the to do lists.

4:17 Leave them outside the door. Just for now. This is really a time. Just for you. So

4:31 Again. Checking that your body is comfortable. And a little bit of Progressive relaxation, letting you Your shoulders go.

4:41 Letting them sink and settle and letting your arms Be limp like Old rogue. Then in the face softened. And it just sort of hang like a curtain.

5:01 No tension in it. Let it go. Let there be. A warm thin. The chest.

5:17 A warmth in the belly. Softness. In chest softness. And Ballet. Let your hips go.

5:29 Let your legs relax and your feet. So in this space of meditation. We're gonna Explore how we might allow Restlessness.

5:50 If it comes up. And I invite you actually to imagine that you are feeling Just a little bit of restlessness. It's a familiar feeling for pretty much all of us, I think. That uh, enough of this.

6:13 I want to go and do something else. Or I wanna move. Well get me out of here. No Instead of

6:22 Doing what it says. We're gonna be still. And we're gonna see if we can find it. Find the restlessness. In your body, what actually is it?

6:42 Could it be that it's Just a kind of energy. Maybe like a little Minute dust devil or something. Of energy.

6:56 Somewhere in The torso. Maybe the belly. Maybe the chest. Possibly throat.

7:06 Can you find some trace Uh An energy of restlessness. Within your Tossa.

7:32 Whatever you're finding Or if you're not really finding anything. We're gonna Let things be just as they are. We're gonna allow

7:49 Any energy. Of restlessness. All the absence of it. To be just as it is. What if

8:06 We don't have to do anything. About it. What if We have it in us. To just let it be there.

8:19 Let it be here. No need to change it. Welcome it. Allow it. Let it actually be

8:39 Part of your experience. Rest with it. If you are Tasting restlessness? You can name it.

9:14 In your own mind. Restlessness. Is present. Say it to yourself that Restlessness.

9:35 is welcome. Try saying that. To yourself. In your own mind. It may be that

9:57 You're sensing some other emotion. That might be uncomfortable. If so, see if you can find the sensory correlates of it. The Actual sensation.

10:13 In probably the chest area. Or perhaps the belly. That associates with it. And let them be present. Let your shoulders be soft.

10:38 Let your flanks be soft. Let you back. B. Soft. And let the whole front

10:53 Of your torso. The front. The skin and dermis. Early at all, sir. Let it also be soft.

11:04 Like a kind of drapery. Hanging loose. And let the softness in your body Allow. Any

11:19 Discomfort. Of restlessness or emotion. Uh the softness. Welcome. Any trace.

11:32 of discomfort. Let yourself just be with it. Being still. Being quiet. Resting with

11:58 Your own Hard. Your own Emotion Center. And letting it be.

12:30 Yeah, so Part of this Homecoming. We might say that meditation can be is also coming back.

12:41 to you know our our feeling self. It's a beautiful thing actually that we feel. Uh like many Like all other mammals, we have We have emotions.

12:55 Uh They're part of our makeup. And learning to allow them. Is a Is a real

13:05 form of growth. Okay, so Let's come out of this sit. Bring movement back into the body. You might do it.

13:17 Yeah. Inhale. And exhale. Move around any way you feel. You'd like to. Fantastic.

13:27 Thank you so much for joining me. In this little exploration. Ever Perhaps unexpected kind of tool. That will help us with

13:37 Uh Difficulties. And sort of defuse them. So uh Pathway.

13:45 Into meditation. Along there. The great journey. Of meditation. Thanks so much.

13:52 See you next week.