An Unexpected Way to Beat the Heat

Try curiosity to help you accept feeling hot

Photo by Fabian Struwe on Unsplash

When the temperature is hot outside, it can make us feel really miserable. I live in New Mexico, where the temperature often exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Even in the morning before things really heat up, I’m often uncomfy as I’m getting ready for the day. Part of what makes being hot difficult is that we don’t want to be hot. As we approach summer and are experiencing record highs in lots of places, we can explore being hot in this guided meditation. Using mindfulness meditation, we can explore what it actually feels like to be hot and just be willing to be with that. This kind of acceptance is a skill that we can use in lots of ways.

I’m a licensed mental health counselor who enjoys sharing mindful meditations and information about mindfulness. Below is a transcript of a meditation I led on this topic, and at the end of the article, you’ll find a link to the meditation video. Give it a try and see what happens.

Meditation Transcript

As we begin to move into this time of meditation, if you’d like to close your eyes right now or if you want to wait a little bit, begin to come into yourself and into the present moment. You can move and stretch a little bit to mark the beginning of this time and begin to settle into whatever intentional posture you’d like to assume. Whatever thoughts are still hanging around, let them hang around beside you or behind you but not in front of you. Not where you’re focusing.

Begin to use the physical sense of touch to notice the ground beneath our feet, the chair beneath our seat. Or, if you have assumed some posture other than sitting, just noticing the contact between you and whatever is underneath you or touching you.

As we begin to focus on the discomfort of heat, let’s set aside the word “discomfort” for a moment and begin to just notice temperature.

If there’s a part of your body that is particularly affected by heat, I’d like you to rest your attention on those places. It might be where the body touches itself, the hinges and crevices of our bodies. It might be the places we tend to perspire or sweat.

If you have hair, it could be places where the hair is in contact with the skin or the body…