Meditation is the practice of observing. It is not uncommon for meditation to make you feel incredible joy, peace and sadness. Most think meditation as a way to just “feel good” but through the act of observing, you are only witnessing what is occurring at the present moment. So, why exactly does meditation make you cry?
When you cry during meditation, you are observing thoughts within the mind that bring difficulty. These thoughts arise throughout the day but during meditation, you are finally seeing them for exactly what they are. These moments are an invitation to come into acceptance within yourself.
Meditation Is Neither Good Nor Bad
Meditation is not meant to be seen as something that is “good” or “bad”. Meditation just IS. It is the act of observing what is currently happening in the present moment.
If you start feeling amazing, sad, angry, jealous, it’s all normal. Meditation teaches us to realize these moments are only temporary. Putting emphasis on one emotion during your meditation session is a mistake.
Allow the mind to naturally flow wherever it would like to go.
As you progress in your meditation practice, you will eventually have an intuition about this. There won’t be any feeling of necessity to stay in one single emotion or cling to only the positive, you will allow any emotion to flow through you as you sit there and observe the present moment.
This shift in thinking will allow you to not second guess yourself when emotional change happens.
Meditation should be viewed as one large session, not individual ones.
Instead of trying to make meditation something that is “positive”, just view it as a neutral practice. Ingraining this idea into the mind will release the pressure to force your meditation session into what you think they should look like.
The more fluent you become in meditation, the more flow becomes available to you. There won’t be any resistance to any “negative” thoughts or feelings that arise. As stated earlier, meditation is just the art of observation.
The deeper you go, the less you resist.
Difficult Meditation Sessions
Some meditation sessions will be more difficult than others. This is the beauty of meditation, it will be a different experience everytime.
When difficulty arises, it usually stems from finally meeting your thoughts in the mind.
Throughout the day, you might have pushed away these thoughts and hoped to deal with them at a later time or maybe your idea was that you could avoid them completely. Meditation forces us to come into contact with every part of our soul.
When you do meet these thoughts through meditation, you may start feeling different emotions. You may feel angry, sad, guilty. You may even start crying.
It’s ok to cry.
When you cry during meditation, it’s completely normal. Having to come into direct contact with painful memories can be extremely difficult on the mind, especially if you have tried to previously run away from them.
These moments are an invitation for you to fully see what is going on within yourself. These moments are a gift that should be cherished.
This is your moment when you can decide to be brave and bring honesty into your life.
When you are crying, don’t beat yourself up over it. Look at it as a good thing. This is you attempting to deal with internal conflict. It may not be easy, but getting through these moments will build character.
If you try to avoid these difficult moments, you are doing yourself a disservice. You can’t run from yourself forever. These negative thoughts can reside in the mind and turn into much bigger issues if you don’t deal with them as soon as they come up.
Dealing With The Difficulty
How exactly are you supposed to deal with these painful moments during meditation?
You have to first start by being honest. I’m talking, brutally honest like you have never been before honest.
The soul rewards honesty. If you are honest, you are no longer hiding. When you aren’t hiding anymore, you can resolve these thoughts in the mind once and for all.
For years, I knew that I was heading down the wrong path. I knew it in the deepest parts of my soul.
Any time I would ask myself, “Am I doing the right thing?”, I would get a strong “No”.
This wasn’t enough for me. I kept going through a revolving door that required me to close off my senses to continue living in a state that wasn’t in direct alignment with my life purpose.
I wasn’t being honest with myself. All the negativity was building. I was on the verge of tears, everyday.
I had no comfort anymore. Anytime I tried to meditate it felt like a chore. I lost myself.
This all came from me not being honest with myself.
Be brutally honest. Your soul knows what is best for you, you just have to listen to it.
You can’t force your life to be a certain way. That’s what meditation is trying to teach you.
These difficult sessions are an invitation to accept the present moment fully.
The moment you are truly accepting whatever it may be that is causing you difficulty, this is when you truly find freedom.
Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid
Looking within yourself may make you fearful.
This fear is an act of the ego, it does not want you to look within and see that everything is ok. It doesn’t want you to succeed, it wants you to stay afraid and to keep giving it power.
I would advise you if you do become afraid to go straight into the fear. See the fear for what it is. This fear is your guide. It will show you the way. Follow it.
Anytime you become afraid, it’s time to take action.
Fear will end up consuming you if you let it. Instead of letting this fear take advantage of you, take a stand for yourself.
Look straight at it, meet it, and see that it doesn’t really hold any power over you.
All thoughts within the mind are just an illusion. You give your thoughts and emotions power, this is how they take control over you.
This is why it may make some meditation sessions difficult and why you may start crying. It’s so many things at once, fear from looking within, sadness from previous life events, fear about the future.
This fear doesn’t own you. You are not the fear. Observe this fear next time during your session.
Let the fear come over you completely, try to feel it as much as you can. This way, instead of running away from going to see the fear eye to eye.
Fear doesn’t want you to do this. You have to do it for yourself. Be brave, with an open heart, your soul will respond kindly to this openness.
Embracing Both Sides
Whether your meditation session left you on top of a mountain or made you feel beneath the ground, it’s important to embrace both experiences.
Meditation is not about force. It’s an art, it’s the flow of life. It’s seeing, watching. Meditation just is.
Both of these experiences will grow you as a person. It is necessary to experience each side to understand what it means to be on the opposite end.
Without one, you wouldn’t have the other. Yin and yang. Light and dark. They are all the same thing.
Learn to cherish each moment for what it is. There should be no attempting to define your meditation sessions, just leave them be. As soon as they end, it’s over! Don’t get hung up on just one session, this is how you truly go with the flow.
Don’t be afraid to cry during your meditation session. It’s fine, sometimes you will also cry tears of joy. Both of these moments are incredible gifts.
Without having these experiences, we wouldn’t understand how to live. Meditation is great at getting us to sit down and just see exactly what is going in.
Meditation is a tool for us to further learn more about ourselves. Purifying the body and mind together, this is what meditation is about.
Conclusion
Just accept the present moment. This is what meditation is trying to teach you. Good or bad, it doesn’t matter, accept your reality.
If you start crying during meditation, it’s perfectly ok. Don’t get too hung up on it, don’t allow the fear to control you. Go with the fear. It is your guide.
Love yourself. Give yourself a chance to heal. These painful moments during meditation are some of the most amazing gifts so cherish them.
You will grow from your tears. Take the invitation with an open hand and look as deep within as possible.
Your soul will thank you for it.
