Health Journal Online

Tag: impermanence

  • A Meditation to Help You Let Go and Accept Change

    A Meditation to Help You Let Go and Accept Change

    Explore this loving-kindness practice variation to cultivate more ease and openness within the moment-to-moment unfolding of life.

    One of the hardest parts of life for me, and I think for everyone I know, is that it’s always changing—and sometimes in unpleasant, unpredictable, and unplanned ways. And when changes happen like this, things that we don’t want to happen—someone we love dies or we have a breakup or a divorce, maybe an injury or an illness of ourselves or others, or even getting fired—then we struggle not only from the pain of this loss, but from the unexpected nature of it. Part of the reason for this upset is because so little is in our control. 

    One of the hardest parts of life for me, and I think for everyone I know, is that it’s always changing—and sometimes in unpleasant, unpredictable, and unplanned ways.

    Everything is impermanent. It’s always changing, coming together and falling apart. And it’s frustrating to not be able to make things go our way. But paradoxically, when we can accept that everything is not up to us, and we stop trying to control what we can’t change or trying to predict what we can’t predict, then we can feel a lot more at ease and more open to the moment-to-moment unfolding of our lives. By accepting change, we can bring kindness to our experience, even if it’s painful and sad at times, and we can feel more at peace with changes in life. 

    Key Summary

    Benefits of Acceptance:

    • Reduces suffering caused by resistance to inevitable change
    • Builds resilience for navigating life transitions
    • Develops psychological flexibility
    • Creates space for new possibilities to emerge

    Key Principles:

    • Distinguishing between acceptance and resignation
    • Working with impermanence as a natural law
    • Cultivating an open attitude toward uncertainty
    • Practicing letting go as an active, compassionate choice

    Application: Particularly helpful during major life transitions, loss, relationship changes, and when facing situations beyond our control.

    Guided Meditation: Let Go and Accept Change

    1. First, find a place where you can just sit down and be still. Turn off your devices, close your eyes, and just take a few breaths. Noticing your feet, your seat, your belly. Bringing your attention to your forehead, your cheeks, your jaw, allowing sound to enter your ears, allowing taste to enter your mouth. 
    2. Put your hand on your belly. Just notice how you feel your belly inflates as you inhale and how it contracts when you exhale. 
    3. Call to mind someone you know who’s struggling right now. You could maybe imagine that they’re here with you, visualize them, or just have a sense of their presence. If you like, put your hand on your heart and silently offer them this phrase: May you be at peace with the changes in life. May you be at peace with the changes in life. May you be at peace with the changes in life. Continuing silently repeating this, as though you’re giving a gift to this struggling being. 
    4. Notice: Where is your attention? If you’ve lost the connection with this struggling being, reconnect, begin again. May you be at peace with the changes in life. 
    5. Let go of this connection with this other being. Noticing your feet, feeling your seat, relaxing your shoulder blades, bringing your attention to your breath, to the light entering through your eyelids. 
    6. Next, put your hand on your heart and connect with yourself. You can imagine that you’re looking in the mirror, imagine yourself as a child, or just connect with your beautiful presence. Give yourself the same wisdom: May I be at peace with the changes in life. And continue here just for a minute or two, giving yourself this compassion and wisdom. 
    7. Notice where your attention is. If you’ve lost your connection to yourself, and gently come back, reconnecting. May I be at peace with the changes in life. Just for one more minute, giving yourself this kindness. May I be at peace with the changes in life. 
    8. Keep this connection with yourself, and now include that first being and perhaps everyone that you know and love. May we be at peace with the changes in life. May we be at peace with the changes in life. 
    9. Expand the phrase to include all of the beings. All of the living creatures in this ecosystem we call Earth. All of us struggle with change, with loss, with impermanence. Giving your wisdom and your kindness and your good heart to all of us, including yourself. May we all be at peace with the changes in life. May everyone be at peace with the changes in life. 
    10. When you’re ready, conclude your meditation. You can close your practice by thanking yourself for your good intention, for your beautiful heart, for these joyful efforts. 

    Remember that you can practice in this way whenever you need to. Stop, feel your feet, put your hand on your heart, and say to yourself, May I be at peace with the changes in life. If you’re struggling with an unexpected loss, be sure to be patient and kind with yourself, and check in with your good heart as often as possible. 

    A Meditation on Endings 

    By drawing our attention to endings and our developed habits about the way we meet endings, we can learn how to step fully into our lives with appreciation and gratitude, says Frank Ostaseski. Read More 

    • Frank Ostaseski
    • January 6, 2026



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  • A Meditation to Get Into the Flow of Sensations

    A Meditation to Get Into the Flow of Sensations

    This week, Toby Sola guides us through a practice to hone attention and tap into the effervescent joy of flow state.

    You may have heard of “impermanence” as an important theme in meditation practice. In this guided practice, Toby Sola introduces us to the ease of flow state with two simple but profound techniques: exploring impermanence directly by noticing changes in our body sensations, and using labels to hone concentration. 

    Note that this meditation includes long pauses of complete silence as part of the practice. If you want more time, feel free to pause the recording as you go.

    A Meditation to Get Into the Flow of Sensations

    Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

    1. In this guided meditation, we’ll explore the theme of flow. Let your legs relax. Let your pelvis be heavy. Lengthen your spine and neck. Tuck in the chin a little. Relax the face. Relax the shoulders, arms, and hands. Relax the belly. 
    2. Next, bring your attention to any body sensations. Maybe you feel the touch of your clothes. The expansion and contraction of your chest as you breathe. Or an emotion in your belly. It’s all good, just bring your attention to whatever you’re feeling in the body. 
    3. If your attention is pulled to sounds, thoughts, or other experiences, that’s okay. The distractions don’t have to go away. Just let them come and go in the background of your awareness and bring the spotlight of your attention back to the body.
    4. As you focus on body sensations, see if you can notice any changes. For example, a body sensation beginning or ending. A body sensation getting more intense or less intense. A body sensation changing in size. A body sensation vibrating or undulating.
    5. Now, let’s add labels. A label is a word or phrase that briefly describes what you’re focusing on. There are many label systems, but here’s how we’ll use labels for this practice. As you focus on body sensations, if you’re noticing a change, say flow. And if you’re not noticing a change, say stable. You can say labels out loud or in your head. The pace should be steady and the tone should be calm and matter of fact. I’ll give an example of what it can sound like, and then give you a chance to try it for yourself. 
    6. If you’re spacing out a lot, speak the labels out loud. Spoken labels can help you keep concentration. Make sure to say either flow or stable about once every 15 seconds, depending on whether you’re noticing a change in your body sensations.
    7. Now, just keep practicing. Notice sensations, notice changes or sameness, and label them silently or out loud. (The audio for this meditation ends here.) 
    8. Continue noticing and labeling for another minute or two. Eventually, you should notice a sense of ease, like you’re bobbing gently in a flowing river of attention.
    9. When you’re ready, take a few breaths to conclude your practice, and gently return to your regular day.



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