How often do you find yourself resisting trying something new? You debate in your mind whether you should try yoga or not, whether you should eat less meat to stay healthy or stick with your usual comfort foods.  Perhaps this resistance occurs at work, and it contributes to the stress that you later try to solve with food. Persistent resistance can drain energy from your thoughts and your speech as well as your emotions.  You become tense and you feel that you cannot make these changes, even though you know that you may benefit from trying something new. These endless debates can lead to the formation of internal knots—they become your habit energies.

Whenever resistance arises, attend to it mindfully.  Next time you find yourself resisting something, pause, and then greet your resistance by saying to yourself,  “Hello, resistance.   Here you are again!” 

For the next in breath, say to yourself:

I recognize my resistance.

For the out breath, say to yourself:

I let go of resistance.

Practicing like this, we can avoid wasting our energy on unconstructive reactions. As we continue to breathe, we can build up our mindfulness energy, and the feeling of resistance will subside. We will feel lighter, freer, and more ready to take on new challenges with ease.

Although resistance can be stubborn at times, there are tools to lessen its influence in our lives.  Look to Chapters 5 and 6 to help you uncover reasons why it is difficult for you to make healthy changes in what you eat and how you move.  You may also find the meditation on transforming negative emotions in Chapter 7 (p. 193) to be helpful.

What are your particular areas of resistance?

All the best to you,

Lilian