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

Summary

The Tim Ferriss Show: Episode #793 - How to Calm Your Inner Storm — A Guided Meditation to Tame Restlessness with Zen Master Henry Shuchman

In Episode #793 of The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss introduces a transformative segment titled Meditation Monday, featuring renowned Zen Master Henry Shuchman. This episode is part of a four-episode series designed to equip listeners with a Zen toolkit aimed at fostering greater calm, peace, and effectiveness in daily life.

Introduction to Meditation Monday

Tim Ferriss launches the episode by unveiling his latest experiment—Meditation Monday—a departure from his traditional long-form interviews. This series offers concise, approximately 10-minute guided meditations each Monday, focusing on practical techniques to enhance mental well-being. Ferriss highlights Henry Shuchman as the guiding teacher, praising him as one of the few masters authorized to teach Sambo Zen. He shares a personal endorsement of Shuchman's app, The Way, noting significant reductions in his own anxiety levels after regular use.

"I've been using Henry's app the Way once, often twice a day for the last few months and it has lowered my anxiety more than I thought possible."
— Tim Ferriss [00:00]

Ferriss also offers listeners an opportunity to experience the benefits firsthand by providing 30 free sessions through The Way app, accessible at thewayapp.com/tim.

Guided Meditation with Henry Shuchman

Henry Shuchman leads the meditation session, delving into the common challenge of dealing with difficult emotions during meditation. He acknowledges that meditation can sometimes heighten awareness of emotions like worry, regret, frustration, craving, aversion, and dislike, which ancient Buddhist teachings identified as hindrances to meditative practice.

"Sometimes meditation might seem to exacerbate difficult emotions because we're more exposed to them."
— Henry Shuchman [01:10]

Understanding Restlessness

Shuchman explores the concept of restlessness—a prevalent feeling where one desires to escape the current moment or change their state. Instead of reacting impulsively to restlessness, he encourages practitioners to embrace and observe these emotions without judgment.

"What if we don't have to do anything about it? What if we have it in us to just let it be there?"
— Henry Shuchman [04:33]

Techniques for Managing Emotions

The meditation guides listeners through a series of relaxation and mindfulness techniques:

1. Progressive Relaxation: Shuchman instructs listeners to systematically relax different parts of their body, from shoulders and arms to the face, hips, legs, and feet. This physical relaxation serves as a foundation for mental stillness.

2. Sensory Awareness: He encourages practitioners to locate the physical sensation of restlessness within their bodies, often in the torso, belly, chest, or throat. By identifying these sensations, individuals can better understand and manage their emotions.

3. Acceptance and Naming: Shuchman advises naming the emotion internally—e.g., "Restlessness is present" and "Restlessness is welcome." This verbal acknowledgment helps in distancing oneself from the emotion, fostering a sense of control and acceptance.

4. Softness and Letting Go: By cultivating a sense of softness and allowing the body to remain relaxed, practitioners can create space for discomfort without resistance. This approach aligns with the Buddhist principle of non-attachment, where emotions are observed without clinging or aversion.

"Let the softness in your body allow any discomfort of restlessness or emotion. Let the softness welcome any trace of discomfort."
— Henry Shuchman [11:45]

Embracing the Present

Shuchman emphasizes the importance of being present and resting with one's emotions, viewing meditation as a journey back to one's true self. He highlights that emotions are an integral part of being human and that allowing them facilitates personal growth.

"Meditation can also be coming back to our feeling self. Learning to allow emotions is a real form of growth."
— Henry Shuchman [12:30]

Conclusion of the Meditation Session

As the session draws to a close, Shuchman guides listeners to gradually return to their physical surroundings, integrating the calm and insights gained during the meditation. He encourages gentle movement and mindful breathing to complete the practice.

"Bring movement back into the body. You might do an inhale and an exhale."
— Henry Shuchman [13:22]

Final Thoughts

Tim Ferriss wraps up the episode by expressing gratitude for joining the Meditation Monday series, underscoring the value of such practices in navigating the complexities of modern life. He invites listeners to return next week for the continuation of this enriching meditation series with Henry Shuchman.

"Thank you so much for joining me in this little exploration of a perhaps unexpected kind of tool that will help us with our difficulties and sort of defuse them for our pathway into meditation and along the great journey of meditation."
— Henry Shuchman [13:26]

Key Takeaways

• Meditation Monday introduces a practical meditation series aimed at reducing anxiety and enhancing mental clarity.
• Henry Shuchman's guided meditation focuses on accepting and managing restlessness and other difficult emotions.
• Techniques include progressive relaxation, sensory awareness, naming emotions, and cultivating softness in the body.
• Embracing emotions without resistance fosters personal growth and deeper self-awareness.
• Listeners are encouraged to utilize The Way app for continued practice, with an offer of 30 free sessions.

This episode serves as a valuable resource for those seeking accessible meditation practices to manage inner turmoil and cultivate a peaceful, centered state of mind.

Transcript

[A]

Hello boys and girls, ladies and germs, this is Tim Ferriss. Welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferriss 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 Schuchman 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 Sambo Zen. 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, 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 30 free sessions by visiting thewayapp.com Tim so if you like what you hear in these meditations, which will be valuable in and of themselves, you can get 30 free sessions by going to thewayapp.com Tim and for the time being, please enjoy this Meditation Monday with Henry Shucman.

[B]

Welcome back to Meditation Monday. 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. 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 kind of nowhere to hide. Now in early Buddhism, these kinds of emotions, things like worry, regret, frustration, craving, aversion or dislike, strong dislike, were viewed actually as hindrances to meditation that they would make us not want to meditate, they'd make it harder to meditate. And I think it's quite a helpful lens to recognize that difficult emotions are a problem, as it were, in meditation, in that they will discourage us from doing it. So fortunately we have tools for being with difficult emotion and 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 want to do a sit now that offers a tool for working with restlessness and emotions that might be associated with it. So I hope you find this helpful. Let's come into our seated, comfortable position. And just a footnote, if you want to recline, you go right ahead. We just want to be comfortable. That's the main thing because when we're comfortable, it's easier to relax.

[C]

And when we start relaxing, it's easier to be still.

[B]

And in some ways, it might be that the most powerful agent in meditation.

[C]

Is simply being still, that all the lessons and learnings and shifts and transformations that meditation can offer simply come from stillness. So let's give ourselves time to be comfortable, to arrive here, to come into being here, into this space where nothing is asked of us, nothing we need to do. We're really getting to put down the burden of doing all the responsibilities, the to do lists, leave them outside the door, just for now. This is really a time just for you.

[B]

So again, checking that your body is.

[C]

Comfortable with a little bit of progressive relaxation. Letting your shoulders go, letting them sink and settle, and letting your arms be limp like old rope. Letting the face soften, Let it just sort of hang like a curtain, no tension in it. Let it go. Let there be a warmth in the chest, a warmth in the belly, Softness in chest, softness in belly. Let your hips go. Let your legs relax and your feet. So in this space of meditation, we're gonna explore how we might allow restlessness if it comes. 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 enough of this. I want to go and do something else or I want to move or get me out of here. Now, instead of doing what it says, we're going to be still, and we're going to see if we can find it. Find the restlessness in your body. What actually is it? Could it be that it's just a kind of energy, Maybe like a little miniature dust devil or something of energy somewhere in the torso, maybe the belly, maybe the chest, possibly throat? Can you find some trace of an energy of restlessness within your torso? Whatever you're finding, or if you're not really finding anything, we're going to let things be just as they are. We're going to allow any energy of restlessness or the absence of it to be just as it is. What if we don't have to do anything about it? What if we have it in us to just let it be there? Let it be here. No need to change it. Welcome it, allow it, Let it actually be part of your experience. Rest with it. If you are tasting restlessness, you can name it in your own mind. Restlessness is present. Say it to yourself. Restlessness is welcome. Try saying that to yourself in your own mind. It may be that 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 in probably the chest area, perhaps the belly that associates with it. And let them be present. Let your shoulders be soft, let your flanks be soft, let your back be soft. And let the whole front of your torso, the front, the skin and dermis of your torso. Let it also be soft, like a kind of drapery hanging loose. And let the softness in your body allow any discomfort of restlessness or emotion. Let the softness welcome any trace of discomfort. Let yourself just be with it, being still, being quiet, resting with your own heart, your own emotion center, and letting it be. Yeah. So part of this homecoming, we might say that meditation can be, is also coming back to, you know, our feeling self. It's a beautiful thing, actually, that we feel like many, like all other mammals, we have emotions. They're part of our makeup. And learning to allow them is a real form of growth. Okay, so let's come out of this. Sit. Bring movement back into the body. You might do a inhale and an exhale.

[B]

Move around anywhere you feel you'd like to.

[C]

Fantastic.

[B]

Thank you so much for joining me in this little exploration of a perhaps.

[C]

Unexpected kind of tool that will help us with our difficulties and sort of defuse them for our pathway into meditation and along the great journey of meditation. Thanks so much.

[B]

See you next week.