Just Breathe

There is a Tibetan meditation practice of compassion called Tonglen, in which you breathe in suffering and breathe out love. It is meant to offer relief to yourself and others.

The little I tried didn’t feel good to me, and it was many years before I gave myself permission to not worry about doing it or liking it or not liking it. It was painful for me.

The idea of “No pain, no gain,” is a limited truth, misrepresented as a universal truth. Yes, pain leads to growth — sometimes — given the right context and capacity. Sometimes pain kills you! Sometimes it sets you way back. Sometimes it comes unbidden and slows you down for reasons you eventually understand, or not.

This diagram is a gesture of encouragement to do what actually works for your unique composition and cultural context. And to trust your inner reality of that. If you are wrong, you will find out eventually. And you will learn about how to read your inner GPS.

See my Hands of Zen Zenn Diagram to help you explore and find your natural way.

More Zenn Diagrams