How I Transform Stuck Emotions Through Taoist Meditation

How I Transform Stuck Emotions Through Taoist Meditation

Everything's Changing (And Your Brain Is Hilariously Bad at Accepting That)

So here's a fun question: why did evolution wire our brains to grab onto everything like we're trying to catch water with our hands? Why do we clutch at feelings, people, mental states, and stuff as if we could somehow freeze-frame this wild, constantly-shifting movie called life?

The evidence is everywhere—things change! Yet we bumble through our days acting like we're immortal, like the people we love will always be around, and like emotions—joy, anger, sadness, that weird fear you get when you hear a strange noise at 2 AM—are permanent residents instead of houseguests who packed light and are already eyeing the door.

Our brains whisper sweet lies: "Just be better, stronger, faster, smarter, and you'll finally control everything!" It's completely bonkers. We're all running the same buggy software, convinced we can somehow grab hold of life's raging river and make it stop for a sec. Spoiler alert: the tighter we grip, the more it hurts. But honestly? There's something kind of beautiful (and hilarious) about the fact that we're all doing this ridiculous dance together.

This Morning's Plot Twist

During my meditation this morning, an emotion showed up uninvited. I was stuck and life kept moving on, and I was still clinging. Usually, I'd just think "I'm thinking" and focus again on the practice; however, I could sense this emotion had some roots like a tooth that needs a root canal. So,today I decided to try something different—I'd welcome this feeling like an awkward party guest and actually sit with it.

I used a Taoist exercise called Water Wearing Down a Stone (which is both poetic and accurate):

Here's how it works:

1. Pick an emotion or memory that's got some juice to it.

2. Picture it like a painting in your mind and give it a title—like you're naming it at an art gallery.

3. Hold that image while repeating the title in your head until something shifts. Maybe a new picture appears, or the emotion morphs, or you suddenly get it.

4. Give this new scene its own title and repeat the process.

5. Keep following this breadcrumb trail through different images and labels.

6. Trust your gut about when to stop. Sometimes you hit that "aha!" moment. Sometimes you just go as far as you can today, and that's cool too. Either way, something changes.

The key? Be ridiculously kind to yourself. No judging, no rushing. Just watch it unfold like you're streaming your own consciousness on Netflix.

What Happened to Me

Without getting into the gory details, I started with an emotion/event combo that I didn't understand—something that stirred up sadness and anger. Then the image shifted. And shifted again. And again.

By the end, I wasn't looking at the original scene anymore. Instead, I'd landed on a memory from childhood.

Here's the wild part: we're all caught in these cycles in a life that is constantly changing like Rhumba stuck in a corner—the economy, other people, our parents, the past, whether it's going to rain on Saturday, this massive web of variables all smooshed together to create this moment and how we react to it.

Today, I realized I'd misunderstood something entirely when I was a kid. I'd formed this mental picture of an event that was just... wrong. And that one little misunderstanding created ripples—decades of mistakes built upon that original mistake. Even better? Once I saw it clearly, a whole cascade of related memories appeared with this new understanding attached. In Short I changed my brain.

That's some powerful stuff, folks.

The Bottom Line

Sometimes digging into emotional events helps you understand yourself better and see where you've been confused. Old ideas that were stuck start to loosen up. Something that felt solid and frozen begins to flow again. Hence the name: water wearing down a stone.

Fair warning: depending on what you're working with, this can get emotional. So be gentle with yourself, okay? Let me say that again, BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF. Celebrate the small wins.

Mindfulness is a gift you give yourself—a way to slow down, breathe, and truly live. And remember, it’s perfectly okay to laugh at yourself when your mind wanders or you forget to pause. After all, life is a beautiful, messy adventure.

Here’s to your mindful journey ahead!