From the course: Mindfulness Practices

Practice: Be resilient in failure

From the course: Mindfulness Practices

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Practice: Be resilient in failure

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- This practice will help you be resilient in failure. Find a quiet space and shut off any distractions. Sit comfortably, spine straight, shoulders relaxed, feet on the floor. You can close your eyes or soften your gaze. Inhale through your nose and exhale through the mouth. Now start to deepen your breath. Breathe in. two, three, four. Breathe out. two, three, four. In two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. Continue to breathe normally. Bring to mind a situation where you feel like you failed and still feel the sting of this. Notice without any judgment, what thoughts come up for you. You're noticing what thoughts the mind has about this failure. Does your mind go to blame? Does it blame you? Does it blame others? Are there any stories the mind has about you and your abilities? What assumptions is the mind making about others? I know my mind makes up stories about whether I'm really capable or whether others are trustworthy. Don't get into whether these assumptions are right or wrong. Just notice the lens through which your mind is interpreting a failure. It's likely that you're also feeling an emotion. You can choose to label it. Is it disappointment? Regret, shame, anger, whatever the emotions, see if you can just notice it and accept it without any judgment. Can you feel it in your body? Breathe into that space. Create some spaciousness there. As you continue to deeply while confronting a failure know that you're expanding your courage. You're expanding your capacity to see what's difficult without avoiding it. You may repeat with me this self-compassion offering. This is a moment of discomfort. Discomfort is part of being human. May I be kind to myself. If it feels good, you can hold your hands to your heart with a reassuring hug to yourself. If you want to practice longer, pause this video here and continue. (bell rings) When you're ready, open your eyes. Notice how you feel now. You've taken a positive step toward resilience by processing your failure. As we accept our own difficult emotions we expand our capacity for empathy for others in difficult times. You can use the exercise file to create a mind story map to help you see your relationship to failure. Once you see it clearly, you can choose to see if you want to shift that relationship, so you're more open to taking risks and learning from failure. Until the next time, my friends.

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