THICH NHAT HANH
Practices for Transforming Fear
Releasing Fear from Body and Feelings: Eight Simple Mindfulness Exercises
Practicing mindful breathing helps us experience joy and peace. When we concentrate on our breath, we are not carried off by thoughts about the past or the future. We are free of all thinking. When We are lost in thought, we can not be really present.
When we bring our attention to our in-breath, We are not thinking about our in-breath; it is direct experience. We are living our in-breath. Our in-breath is not a thought; it is a reality. We are living the reality that is our in-breath. “Breathing in, I enjoy my in-breath.” When we breathe this way, in mindfulness, we can see many things. We can touch the miracle of life, because when we breathe mindfully, we realize that We are alive. To be alive is a fantastic thing. To be present in the here and now, breathing, is a miracle. To be alive is one of the greatest of miracles. Parents holding their newborn child know this; people on their deathbeds know it too.
To be alive, breathing, taking steps on this planet, is a wonderful thing. We do not need to drink some wine or host a dinner party to celebrate life; we can celebrate in every moment with our breathing and our steps. With mindfulness and concentration, we can get in touch and live every moment of our daily lives as a miracle. And we can do it right now, today.
The energy of mindfulness can be generated anytime, anywhere. With mindful breathing, mindful walking, that energy brings us deeply in touch with the wonders of life, and that’s what brings us happiness. Our practice is very concrete, very simple. When you breathe in and really pay attention to your in-breath, there will be a change right away. You are more there, and you touch more of reality. When you practice walking meditation, you walk so mindfully that you are able to be in touch with reality in a deeper way. And you begin to live your life more deeply. How closely you are in touch with reality depends on your way of breathing and looking.
Here are some simple exercises of mindful breathing to use whenever fear arises:
- Exercises 1 through 4 are for taking care of the body
- Exercises 5 through 8 are for taking care of the feelings.
Exercise One
The first exercise is extremely simple, but it brings great benefit: the insight that you are really here, alive. And you are not only this body, but also your environment—you are all of this. The practice is so simple, yet it can bring the miracles of joy and happiness.
The first exercise is, “Breathing in, I know this is an inbreath. Breathing out, 1 know this is an out-breath.” We recognize the in-breath as an in-breath and the out-breath as an out-breath. It is easy. When we do that, we bring our attention to the in- and out-breath. We let go of our thinking; we let go of the past, of the future, of our projects. We are only with our breath, and we are free. Our in-breath becomes the sole object of our attention and awareness. We can enjoy just breathing.
Exercise Two
The second exercise is, “Breathing in, I follow my in-breath all the way from the beginning to the end. Breathing out, I follow my out-breath all the way from the beginning to the end.” The in-breath may last two seconds, five seconds, or more. You follow the entire in-breath from the very beginning to the very end, without any interruption, and you enjoy the whole journey, the whole length of the breath. In that way your concentration becomes stronger and stronger. That’s how we train ourselves in concentration.
Mindfulness carries within it the life, because when we breathe mindfully, we realize that We are alive. To be alive is a fantastic thing. To be present in the here and now, breathing, is a miracle. To be alive is one of the greatest of miracles. Parents holding their newborn child know this; people on their deathbeds know it too. To be alive, breathing, taking steps on this planet, is a wonderful thing. We can celebrate in every moment with our breathing and our steps. With mindfulness and concentration, we can get in touch and live every moment of our daily lives as a miracle. And we can do it right now, today.
The energy of mindfulness can be generated anytime, anywhere. With mindful breathing, mindful walking, that energy brings us deeply in touch with the wonders of life, and that’s what brings us happiness. Our practice is very concrete, very simple. When you breathe in and really pay attention to your in-breath, there will be a change right away. You are more there, and you touch more of reality. When you practice walking meditation, you walk so mindfully that you are able to be in touch with reality in a deeper way. And you begin to live your life more deeply. How closely you are in touch with reality depends on your way of breathing and looking.
Mindfulness carries within it the energy of concentration, and with concentration, conditions are ripe for insight to manifest at any moment.
Summary:
- The first exercise is the noticing of the in-breath and the out-breath.
- The second exercise involves staying with the in-breath and the out-breath for their whole length.
Exercise Three
The third exercise is, “Breathing in, I’m aware of my whole body. Breathing out, I’m aware of my whole body.” During the length of the in-breath you get in touch with your physical body, and your body becomes the object of your mindfulness. That means bringing the mind back to the body. There is reunification, a reunion of the body and the mind, so that you are truly present, body and mind together. Oneness of body and mind is the object of the third exercise. “Breathing in, I’m aware of my whole body.” This is an act of reconciliation between the mind and the body.
The third exercise is recognizing the existence of the body, and the fourth exercise is releasing tension, allowing the tension to flow out of the body. “Breathing in, I’m aware of my whole body. Breathing out, I’m aware of my whole body.” “Breathing in, I am aware of some tension and pain in my body; breathing out, I calm and release the tension and pain in my body.” When tension is released, pain is reduced.
Perhaps you have abandoned and neglected your body for some time. You may not have taken good care of your body in the way you eat or the way you work. So this is a moment when you bring your awareness back to your body and care for and reconcile with your body: “Breathing in, I’m aware of my whole body.” And we know very well that, breathing like this, you are really here, you are really alive, and you have something to offer to other people. You are here for yourself, and you are here for others.
Exercise Four
We should apply this practice in our daily lives. Being with your body, you can see what’s going on in the body. You may recognize that there is tension or pain in the body. Perhaps the pain is chronic, because you have allowed it to go on like that for a long time. You have allowed the tension and pain to accumulate in the body. Now, as you return to the body, you can do something to release the tension and reduce the pain.
That’s why the Buddha offered us the fourth exercise: “Breathing in, I am aware of some tension and pain in my body; breathing out, I calm and release the tension and pain in my body.”
Exercise Three & Four
Summary:
- So with the first four exercises, we learn to handle our breathing and our body, to take care of our body. “I am not just my thoughts and projects; I have a body. I want to take good care of my body and handle it well. The breath is part of my body.” And since everything is connected, We are already starting to get in touch with feelings, because when we get in touch with our body we recognize the tension, the pain.
- Tension produces an unpleasant sensation, an unpleasant feeling. Pain is also an unpleasant feeling. Because of that, we practice letting go. We release the tension so that we can feel better and reduce the pain in the body. These exercises of mindful breathing are very methodical.
The Realm of Feelings
In the next four exercises, we move fully into the realm of feelings. The fifth exercise consists of bringing forth a pleasant feeling, a feeling of joy. When we practice mindfulness, we should be capable of generating a feeling of joy, a feeling of happiness. In Buddhism we often speak of how we can take care of suffering, but we also speak of joy. A practitioner should know how to take care of happiness as well as suffering.
Joy Exercise
The fifth and sixth exercises are for bringing forth joy and happiness. The seventh exercise is for taking care of pain and suffering. There is a reason these exercises speak about happiness first and suffering after. We need some joy and happiness to give us the strength to transform suffering.
“Breathing in, I recognize a pleasant feeling.” Traditionally we say there are three kinds of feelings: pleasant feelings, unpleasant feelings, and neutral feelings. For me there isalso a fourth one: a mixed feeling, when happiness and pain are mixed up together, like a bittersweet feeling.
The fifth and sixth exercises are for recognizing feelings that are pleasant. You can recognize a pleasant feeling when it manifests. Or you can bring up a pleasant feeling at any moment. Since you are a practitioner of mindfulness, you know how to recognize a feeling of happiness, and you can also produce a feeling of happiness. With mindfulness and concentration, it is always possible to bring forth a feeling of happiness.
The Conditions of Happiness
There are so many conditions of happiness available in the present moment. You can take a piece of paper and a pencil and write them all down. In the beginning, you may think your list won’t be very long. But you’ll be surprised to find that even both sides of the paper aren’t enough for writing down all the conditions of happiness that are already available.
When we look at our own body and the environment, we can identify many conditions of happiness that are already available—hundreds, thousands of them. For example, your eyes are a condition of happiness. When you have eyes still in good condition, you need only to open them to see a paradise of shapes and colors. When we’ve lost our eyesight, we recognize that to have good vision is a wonder. So your good eyesight is already a condition of happiness. Thanks to your eyes being in good condition, this whole paradise is available to you. If you touch this condition with awareness, happiness naturally arises.
There are innumerable other wonders just like that in your life. For example, there is your heart. “Breathing in, I’m aware of my heart.” With mindfulness you recognize the presence of your heart. “Breathing in, I know my heart is there, and I’m very happy.” To have a heart that functions normally is a great happiness. When you have worked a long shift, you may have a chance to take a rest, but your heart never stops working; it is beating for you twenty-four hours a day. Your heart is healthy and working for you; that’s a wonderful thing.
There are those among us who do not have such a heart, who are always afraid of having a heart attack or some other emergency. There is nothing in the world they want more than to have a normal heart just like the one you have. So you breathe and recognize the presence of your heart, and you are touching another condition of happiness. “Breathing in, I’m aware of my heart. Breathing out, I smile to my heart with a lot of gratitude.” You are touching another condition of happiness. You can touch hundreds of conditions of happiness right there in your own body and mind, as well as around you.
With mindfulness and concentration, it is always possible to bring forth a feeling of happiness. All we have to do is to come back to ourselves so we can recognize the conditions of happiness that are available, and then happiness comes right away. Someone who practices mindfulness can always generate a feeling of happiness, anytime, anyplace.
If you are capable of producing a feeling of joy, a feeling of happiness, then you’ll also be able to handle painful feelings. A person who doesn’t practice doesn’t know how to deal with painful feelings or strong emotions. But for those of us who are practitioners, when a painful feeling or a strong emotion comes up, We are not victims—we know what to do. When a feeling of happiness or suffering comes up, we just recognize the feeling as it is. Even with a pleasant feeling, we just recognize it. We do not need to grasp it or cling to it. We just practice mere recognition of what is happening, that is, a pleasant feeling.
We do not try to grab on to the pleasant sensation, and we do not try to push it away. We just acknowledge its existence. When a painful feeling comes, we do the same thing. We do not need to grab onto, fight, or repress the unpleasant feeling. We simply recognize its presence. We stay free, even when we have a painful feeling. A feeling is just a feeling. And you are much more than that feeling. We shouldn’t let ourselves be carried away by a feeling, even a pleasant one, much less an unpleasant one. We just practice recognition of the feeling.
Recognizing Joy and Happiness
The fifth exercise is to recognize a feeling of joy: “Breathing in, I feel joy. Breathing out, I know joy is there.” And the sixth is to recognize a feeling of happiness: “Breathing in, I feel happy. Breathing out, I know happiness is there.” Buddhist teachings draw a slight distinction between joy and happiness. Imagine someone is walking in a desert, is very thirsty, and has nothing to drink. All of a sudden he sees an oasis ahead, and he knows he’s going to be able to drink there. “In about fifteen minutes I’ll be there and I’ll have water to drink!” That’s the feeling of joy. When our friend arrives at the oasis, kneels down, and drinks the water, then there is the sensation of happiness. Joy and happiness are slightly different. In the joy there isstill a little bit of excitement. Happiness is a more peaceful feeling, like contentment.
We have to be there for our feelings. There isa whole river of feelings flowing in us day and night. Every feeling is a drop in that river. A feeling is born, manifests, stays for a time, and then passes away. We can sit on the bank of the river of feelings and observe, recognizing each feeling as it manifests, seeing it remain, and seeing it pass away. We shouldn’t identify ourselves with the feeling, nor should we try to push it away. We are free, even from our own feelings. We have to train ourselves to recognize feelings. And with mindfulness we can bring forth a feeling of well-being, a feeling of happiness, at any time.
Recognizing and Embracing Pain
The seventh exercise is to recognize a painful or unpleasant feeling: “Breathing in, I know that a painful feeling is there. Breathing out, I calm that painful feeling.” Pain is a kind of energy, and a nonpractitioner can be overtaken by that painful feeling. We become a victim of the painful feeling, whether it is a sensation in the body or an emotion. There are strong emotions that are very painful, zones of energy that manifest from the depths of our consciousness.
Every time a painful feeling or emotion comes up, the practitioner should know how to handle that feeling. The method the Buddha proposed is to get in touch with the seed of mindfulness in us. We can breathe, we can walk, to generate mindfulness as a second zone of energy that will be able to take care of the first energy, the painful feeling. It is so important for us to train ourselves in breathing mindfully and walking mindfully so we will know how to generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration.
It is precisely with that energy that we’ll be able to handle the painful feeling. The second zone of energy, which is mindfulness and concentration, comes up and embraces the first zone of energy, the painful feeling. We follow this method exactly.
Recognize & Embrace
With the energy of mindfulness and concentration, we just recognize and embrace the painful feeling. “Hello, my fear. Hello, my anger. Hello, my sadness. I know you are there. I’m going to take good care of you.”
There is the energy of the pain, and there is also the energy of mindfulness and concentration. When that positive energy embraces the painful energy, there will be an effect. The energy of mindfulness will penetrate, like heat waves or sunlight. In the earliest hours of the morning, a lotus flower is still closed. As the sun comes up, the sunlight begins to touch the petals. The sunlight doesn’t just surround the lotus flower; its photons actually penetrate the lotus flower with energy, and soon the flower will open. That is exactly the same as what we do. When we embrace our pain, particles of the energy of mindfulness and concentration begin to penetrate, like photons, into the zone of pain. And this will bring relief after some minutes. It is like when a room is cold, you turn on your radiator, and it emits waves of heat. Those heat waves do not chase out the cold; they embrace and permeate the cold air, and after some time, the air becomes warmer. There is no violence in this; there is no fighting. That’s what a practitioner does. Mindfulness and concentration embrace the pain.
Relief from Fear
The eighth exercise is to calm and release the tension in the painful feeling—to embrace, soothe, and bring relief to the feeling: “Breathing in, I calm my mental formations. Breathing out, I calm my mental formations.” This exercise is exactly like what we did with the body.
First we recognized the presence of the body, and then we brought some relief. Here we do the same with the feelings. We recognize the pain, and we bring relief.
We embrace our feelings with tenderness, with nonviolence, and we soothe those feelings. A few minutes may be enough to bring relief. As a practitioner we must be capable of recognizing, embracing, and blessing our fearful suffering. If you are a beginner and your energy of mindfulness is not yet solid enough to be able to recognize and embrace suffering, please ask a friend to help.
After some minutes of being recognized and embraced, that painful feeling’s zone of energy will recede, and you will feel a welcome relief from the grip of fear or pain. A seed from the depths of consciousness manifests, it stays for a while as a zone of energy, and then it goes back down to its original place as a seed. But after being recognized and embraced with mindfulness, it loses some of its strength.
The seed is a bit weaker than before it manifested. You know how to do this; you know very well how to take care of your pain. Every time the pain manifests, we have to let it manifest; we should not push it down. We shouldn’t try to suppress it. We have to let it come and take good care of it.
When we practice walking meditation, when we breathe mindfully, we generate the powerful energy of mindfulness, which can recognize and embrace our suffering and fear. After doing that for a time, you will see that the fear goes back down to its former place as a seed, and you’ll understand that the next time it manifests, you’ll be able to do exactly the same thing. Your chronic fear and anxiety will be genuinely reduced.
The more we practice, the more we are gentle with our fear and are able to embrace it, the more the fear goes away. It is possible to live a life in the present moment completely without fear. Without fear, we are able to see more clearly our connections to others. Without fear, we have more room for understanding and compassion. Without fear, we are truly free.
Transforming the Roots of Fear in the Mind: Eight Breathing Exercises
These eight exercises continue the first eight exercises. They can help us understand our mind and let go of illusions, so that we can touch the true nature of reality and attain fearlessness.
The Realm of the Mind
The first exercise is to be aware of our minds and recognize the state of our minds, just as the third exercise is awareness of the body and the seventh is awareness of the feelings. “Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I am aware of my mind.”
There is a river of mind in which every thought is a drop of water. We sit on the bank of the river and observe the manifestation and fading of each thought. We can simply recognize them as they arise, as they stay for some time, as they go away. We do not need to grasp or fight or push them away.
When fear is there, we say: “Breathing in, I know the mental formation of fear is in me.”
When the mental formation of fear is there, we breathe in and recognize the presence of fear in us. With mindfulness and concentration, we recognize and embrace the mental formation that is there. Then we can look deeply into the nature of that mental formation.
Making the Mind Happy and at Ease
The second exercise is gladdening the mind: “Breathing in, I make my mind happy. Breathing out, I make my mind happy.”
We make the mind glad so as to strengthen it and give it vitality. This is like the practice of generating joy and happiness in the previous set of exercises, with an added element of reinvigorating and energizing the mind.
According to Buddhist psychology, the mind has at least two layers. The lower layer is called store consciousness, and all the seeds of the mental formations are there. When a seed is touched or watered, it manifests in mind consciousness as a mental formation. To gladden the mind, we use a practice called selective watering.
First, we allow the negative seeds to sleep in our store consciousness and do not give them a chance to manifest; if they manifest too often, their base will be strengthened. Second, if a negative seed manifests in mind consciousness, we help it go back to store consciousness as quickly as possible, where it can sleep as a seed. The third practice is to encourage wholesome mental formations to manifest in our conscious mind. In the fourth practice, when a good mental formation has manifested, we try to keep it there as long as we can. We should organize our life so that the seeds of our wholesome mental formations can be touched and watered several times a day. There are good seeds in store consciousness that may not have been able to manifest previously, and now we give them a chance.
Concentrating the Mind
The third exercise is to bring the mind into concentration. We practice concentration to get insight: “Breathing in, I concentrate my mind. Breathing out, I concentrate my mind.”
Concentration has the power to burn away afflictions, just like sunlight focused by a lens can burn a piece of paper underneath. In the same way, concentration—looking deeply into our fear, anger, delusion, and despair—can burn them away, leaving insight.
One concentration is the concentration on emptiness, the absence of a permanent entity. Although emptiness isn’t difficult to understand and it is real, still We are not used to thinking in that way. So we have to train ourselves to look in such a way as to see things more deeply and see their ultimately empty nature.
Scientists tell us that all objects are made mainly of space and that the amount of matter in a flower or a table is almost nothing at all—put together, all the matter in a table would be smaller than a grain of salt. We know that’s the truth, but in our daily lives we still think of the table as something big and solid. When scientists enter the world of elementary particles, they have to put aside their habitual way of looking at things as existing separately from each other. Then they have a chance of understanding what’s really going on in the world of matter. Even scientists have to train themselves. So you have to train yourself to see like that in your daily life.
Concentration means you keep the insight alive for a long time. It is not just a flash; that’s not enough to liberate you. So in your daily life, you keep that insight of non-self, of emptiness, of impermanence alive. When you see a person, a bird, a tree, or a rock, you see its nature of emptiness. Then it becomes an insight that will liberate you. It is very different from speculating about the meaning of emptiness. You have to really see the nature of emptiness in yourself and others. Once that insight is there, you are no longer afraid, no longer bound, no longer a victim of separation and discrimination, because you have seen the nature of interbeing. Meditating deeply, looking deeply into the nature of whatever is there, you can touch the nature of interbeing in it. Whether it is a flower, a buddha, a person, or a tree, you touch the nature of emptiness and interbeing, and you see that the one contains the all.
Liberating the Mind
With the fourth exercise, we free our minds from afflictions and notions: “Breathing in, I liberate my mind. Breathing out, I liberate my mind.”
Our minds are tied up, bound by afflictions such as fear, anger, sorrow, and discrimination. We have practiced being aware of and embracing our fear and our pain, but to fully transform them we need the strength of our concentration to liberate ourselves from these binding forces.
There are many types of concentration we can practice. One is the concentration on impermanence. We have a notion of impermanence. Even though we accept and agree that things are impermanent, our notion of impermanence remains and determines how we see things and how we behave in our daily life. Although we know intellectually that our beloved is impermanent, we still live and behave as though our loved ones will always be there and we will always be the same people we are now. But everything is changing in every moment, like a river.
When we see him again, we may be in touch with the person of twenty years ago; we cannot touch the person of the present moment, who has a different way of thinking and feeling. So we meditate on impermanence in order to touch the nature of impermanence. We need the concentration on impermanence, not the notion of impermanence. The notion of impermanence cannot liberate us. It is the insight of impermanence that liberates us. It is something altogether different from the notion.
But in the beginning, we can use the teaching, the notion of impermanence, as an instrument to help bring about the insight of impermanence. It is like a match and a flame. The match is not the flame, but the match can bring about the flame. And when we have the flame, the flame will consume the match. When we have the insight, the insight will burn away the notion. What we need for our liberation is the insight of impermanence.
Perception
With these final four exercises, we investigate the nature of the objects of our mind—that is, how we perceive things. These concentrations help us get a correct perception of reality, of the world. Many of us are still caught in the notion that consciousness is inside us and the objective world is out there. We believe that our consciousness is here, and We are trying 144 to reach out and understand the objective world out there. When we look at things in terms of interbeing, we see that the subject and object of consciousness cannot exist separately. It is like left and right; one can not exist without the other.
Whenever we perceive something, whether it is a pen or a flower, the object of perception and the subject of perception always manifest at the same time. When we are conscious, we are always conscious of something; when we are mindful, we are always mindful of something; when we think, we always think about something. So object and subject manifest at the same time.
Contemplating Impermanence
The fifth exercise is the concentration on impermanence, the practice of which I have already described in detail as an example illustrating the preceding exercise, liberating the mind. “Breathing in, I observe the impermanent nature of all Dharmas. Breathing out, I observe the impermanent nature of all Dharmas.”
Impermanence is just one type of concentration. But if we do it well, we also succeed in other concentrations at the same time. Going deeply into impermanence, we discover no-self, emptiness, and interbeing. So impermanence represents all concentrations. While breathing in and breathing out, we keep our concentration on impermanence alive until we can make a breakthrough into the heart of reality. The object of our observation may be a flower, a pebble, someone we love, or 145 someone we hate; it may be us, our pain, our fear, or our sorrow. Anything can serve as the object of our meditation. Our intention is to touch the nature of impermanence in it.
Letting Go of Craving
The sixth exercise involves contemplating non-desire, non-craving: “Breathing in, I observe the disappearance of desire. Breathing out, I observe the disappearance of desire.”
There is another consciousness that is between store consciousness and the upper layer of the mind, called manas. Manas is born from store and serves as the base of mind consciousness. Manas contains a lot of delusion and therefore has the tendency to grasp; it is the part of our mind that is always seeking pleasure and ignoring the dangers of pleasure seeking. It is manas that carries our original fear and desire. The contemplation of impermanence can help us transform the delusion in manas so it becomes wisdom. We look deeply into the object of our craving to see its true nature. The object of our craving may be something or someone who has the capacity to destroy our body and our mind. Looking deeply into what we desire and what we consume is a critical practice. What we bring into our body and mind every day may be feeding our grasping, fear, and violence.
Nirvana “Breathing in, I observe cessation. Breathing out, I observe cessation.”
In the seventh exercise we observe cessation—nirvana, the extinction of all notions—so that we can touch reality as it truly is. Then we touch our interbeing nature and know we are part of the whole cosmos. The nature of reality transcends all notions and ideas, including the notions of birth and death, being and nonbeing, coming and going. Contemplating impermanence, no-self, emptiness, no-birth, and no-death can lead to liberation. The notions of birth and death can be a source of fear, anguish, and anxiety. Seeing the no-birth, no death nature of reality, we free ourselves of anxiety and fear.
Letting Go
“Breathing in, 1 observe letting go. Breathing out, I observe letting go.”
This exercise helps us look deeply at giving up craving, hatred, and fear. This concentration helps us touch the true nature of reality and brings the wisdom that can liberate us from fear, anger, and despair. We let go of our wrong perceptions of reality so as to be free. Nirvana literally means cooling, the putting out of flames; in Buddhism, it refers to extinction of the afflictions brought about by our wrong perceptions. Nirvana isn’t a place to go or something belonging to the future. Nirvana is the true nature of reality, things as they are. Nirvana is available in the here and now. You are already in nirvana; you are nirvana, just as the wave is already the water.
Our true nature is no-beginning, no-end; no-birth, no death. If we know how to touch our true nature, there is no
more fear, no anger, no despair. Our true nature is nirvana. So if someone close to you has just passed away, be sure to look for her in her new manifestation. It is impossible for her to die. She is continued in many ways. Using the eyes of wisdom, you can recognize her around you and inside you. And you can continue to talk to her: “Darling, I know you are still there in your new form. It is impossible for you to die.” The eighth exercise helps us release our illusions and be in touch with the true nature of reality. This gives us freedom and relief and brings us a lot of happiness.
We need to continue learning, practicing, and discussing, so our understanding continues to grow. Dwelling in the present moment, you’ll find that you become very interested in investigating all of life, and you can discover many wonderful things, many wonderful ways to practice. This doesn’t mean you get lost in your thinking; it means you observe reality as it is and discover its true nature.
We live in fear of many things—of our past, of death, of losing our “self’ or identity. These eight exercises, together with the first eight breathing exercises, bring us the insight that enables us to touch the ultimate dimension of reality and free ourselves from fear. When we are able to share our way of being and our insight with others, we offer them the greatest gift there is, the gift of non-fear.
Deep Relaxation for Transforming Fear and Stress
Fear can accumulate in our body, causing stress and tension. Rest is a precondition for healing. When animals in the forest get wounded, they find a place to lie down, and they rest completely for many days. They do not think about food or anything else. They just rest, and they are able to heal themselves quite naturally. When we humans become fearful and overwhelmed with stress, we may go to the pharmacy and get drugs, but we rarely have the wisdom to stop our running around. We do not know how to help ourselves.
Deep relaxation is an opportunity for our body to rest, heal, and restore itself. We relax our body, give our attention to each part in turn, and send our love and care to every cell. Deep relaxation of the body should be done at least once a day. It may last for twenty minutes or longer. You can do it in bed at night or in the morning. You can also do it whenever it is convenient, in the living room or anywhere you have space where you can lie down and not be disturbed. It is also possible to practice deep relaxation in a sitting position, for example at your office desk.
If your fear and anxiety keep you up at night, deep relaxation can help. Lying awake, you can enjoy the practice of total relaxation and follow your breathing in and out. Sometimes it can help you get some sleep. But even if you do not sleep, it will still nourish you and allow you to rest. It is very important to allow yourself to rest, and this relaxation practice can even be more deeply restful than sleep if our sleep tends to be filled with nightmares or other intense dreams.
When we do deep relaxation in a group, one person guides the exercise using the following cues or some variation of them. When you do deep relaxation on your own, you may like to try doing it as you read, or listen to a recording.
Deep Relaxation Exercise
Lie down on your back with your arms at your sides. Make yourself comfortable. Allow your body to relax. Be aware of the floor beneath you … and of the contact of your body with the floor. (The reader may pause here to breathe.) Allow your body to sink into the floor. (Breathe.)
Become aware of your breathing, in and out. Be aware of your abdomen rising and falling as you breathe in and out. (Breathe.) Rising . . . falling . . . rising . . . falling. (Breathe.)
Breathing in, bring your awareness to your eyes. Breathing out, allow your eyes to relax. Allow your eyes to sink back into your head. . . . Let go of the tension in all the tiny muscles around your eyes. . . . Our eyes allow us to see a paradise of shapes and colors. . . . Allow your eyes now to rest. . . . Send love and gratitude to your eyes. . . . (Breathe.)
You may say to yourself, “Breathing in, I am aware of my eyes. Breathing out, I smile to my eyes.” 150
Breathing in, bring your awareness to your mouth. Breathing out, allow your mouth to relax. Release the tension around your mouth. . . . Your lips are the petals of a flower. . . . Let a gentle smile bloom on your lips. . . . Smiling releases the tension in the dozens of muscles in your face. . . . Feel the tension release in your cheeks … your jaw … your throat… (Breathe.)
Breathing in, bring your awareness to your shoulders. Breathing out, allow your shoulders to relax. Let them sink into the floor. . . . Let all the accumulated tension flow into the floor…. You carry so much on your shoulders…. Now let them relax, as you care for your shoulders. (Breathe.)
Breathing in, become aware of your arms. Breathing out, relax your arms. Let your arms sink into the floor… your upper arms . . . your elbows . . . your lower arms . . . your wrists . . . hands … fingers … all the tiny muscles…. Move your fingers a little if you need to, to help the muscles relax. (Breathe.)
Breathing in, bring your awareness to your heart. Breathing out, allow your heart to relax. (Breathe.) . . . You may have neglected your heart for a long time in the way you work, eat, and manage anxiety and stress. (Breathe.) . . . Your heart beats for you night and day. Embrace your heart with mindfulness and tenderness, reconciling and taking care of your heart. (Breathe.)
Say to yourself as you breathe, “Breathing in, I am aware of my heart. Breathing out, I smile to my heart.”
Breathing in, bring your awareness to your legs. Breathing out, allow your legs to relax. Release all the tension in your legs . . . your thighs . . . your knees . . . your calves . . . your ankles . . . your feet . . . your toes … all the tiny muscles in your toes. . . . You may want to move your toes a little to help them relax…. Send your love and care to your toes. (Breathe.)
Breathing in, breathing out. . . . Your whole body feels light . . . like duckweed floating on the water. . . . You have nowhere to go . . . nothing to do. . . . You are as free as the cloud floating in the sky…. (Breathe.)
Bring your awareness back to your breathing. . .to your abdomen rising and falling. (Breathe.)
Following your breathing, become aware of your arms and legs. . . . You may want to move them a little and stretch. (Breathe.)
If you are doing the practice before sleep, just continue to follow your breathing, breathing in and breathing out.
If you are doing the practice as a break during the day, when you feel ready, slowly sit up. (Breathe.)
When you are ready, slowly stand up.
Take a moment and be aware of your breath as you stand there before continuing on to your next activity.