
I almost didn’t share this one.
But this is where the work starts.
According to Buddhist tradition, aversion is one of the three afflictive mind-states—alongside greed and delusion. It’s the quiet repulsion we feel when we just want someone or something gone.
This week, I felt it in my chest.
Lingering trauma. Workplace flashbacks. Deep resentment that bubbled into dreams.
But mindfulness asks us to notice—not numb.
To track the moment aversion arises, and what sense impression may have triggered it: a sound, a smell, a memory.
“Anger does not cease through anger, but through love alone.”
So I stayed with the discomfort. I let it speak.
And today, I practiced love—not just for others, but for the parts of me that still hurt.
Card from Mindfulness on the Go by Dr. Jan Chozen Bays