So far in this course, when some difficulty presents itself during meditation in the form of a thought, emotion, or physical sensation, we have been simply acknowledging it and then “firmly but gently” returning to the object of awareness (for instance, breath in the sitting meditation). This week, we introduce a new way to deal with difficult emotions or physical pain, called “Turning Toward” that involves intentionally exploring the difficulty rather than moving away from it. This is a powerful method, but it is deeply counter-intuitive, because the last thing we think we want to do is to move closer to what’s been troubling us.

When used as an informal practice, “Turning Toward” can be thought of as a more nuanced form of STOP (“One-Minute Breathing Space”) that allows for a fuller exploration of what’s happening. Although such an exploration might sound scary and uncomfortable, this is a gentle process, and is done in a special way, one that draws on the skills of awareness and non-judgment that you’ve been building so far in this course.

Videos

In Turning Toward Difficulty and The Fist Exercise, Vidyamala Burch describes this surprising and counter-intuitive way of dealing with difficult issues. In One Moment at a Time, she describes the moment her approach to dealing with her chronic pain changed and her life’s work in understanding and teaching this approach began. The other videos, including Pain x Resistance = Suffering, deal with a variety of issues having to do with this week’s topic, and in The Three Components of Self-Compassion, Kristin Neff talks about the importance of dealing with difficult emotional and physical issues with self-kindness and gentleness. If you are dealing with significant physical pain, be sure to watch Tara Brach’s Guided Reflection on Inhabiting this Body in the supplementary section.

Readings

Responding to Emotional or Physical Pain describes how “Turning Toward” differs from more typical ways of dealing with difficulty. “Turning Toward” Difficult Emotions and “Turning Toward” Physical Pain are one-page descriptions that will be used for the informal practice this week. Vidyamala Burch’s Five-Step Model inspired these informal practices and the corresponding “Turning Toward” meditations. Tara Brach’s Radical Acceptance comes from her book by the same name and talks about the two “wings” of Radical Acceptance, clear seeing and self-compassion, both very important for “Turning Toward”. If you or a loved one is dealing with back pain, The Strange Case of Chronic Back Pain, in the Supplementary section, is a must-read.

Daily Practices

For the formal practice, we introduce the “Turning Toward” Meditation. You will do this the first two days of this week, and on the following days you can choose from any of the practices you’ve learned so far. The “Turning Toward” meditation prepares you for doing the “Turning Toward” informal practice.

The informal practice will be to practice “Turning Toward” an unwanted emotion or physical pain that may have come up during the day. Be sure to print and review “Turning Toward” Difficult Emotions and “Turning Toward” Physical Pain to use as guides for these informal practices.