Episode Details

In this meditation, I return to one of our meditation masters, Saint Francis de Sales, and his wonderfully practical teaching about stress and contemplative practice.

Francis de Sales famously taught that a period of meditation each day is essential — unless we are extremely busy, in which case we need even more meditation. Behind the gentle humour is an important truth: when stress and anxiety increase, the practices that keep us grounded are often the first things we abandon.

We begin by honestly recognising how we arrive to meditation. If we are busy, anxious or overwhelmed, we do not try to deny or immediately change that experience. Instead, we meet it with curiosity and compassion.

Through awareness of bodily sensations, the senses and the present moment, we learn to notice anxiety without being consumed by it. Again and again, we return to what Francis de Sales understood as the doorway into divine love: the reality of the present moment itself.

This meditation offers support for anxiety, stress and emotional overwhelm while cultivating mindfulness, contemplative awareness and a more compassionate relationship with difficult sensations.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction: Saint Francis de Sales on stress

01:51 – Opening bell

02:00 – Checking in honestly with ourselves

03:25 – Noticing stress within the body

05:05 – Exploring sensations with curiosity

06:27 – Returning to open-hearted awareness

08:01 – Grounding through the senses

09:23 – The present moment as a doorway to love

10:05 – Resting in stable awareness

10:38 – Noticing thoughts and sensations

11:39 – Choosing awareness when stress returns

12:11 – Closing bell

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