A free live workshop Thursday, September 3 Live online

Meeting Difficult Emotions

A practice for meeting emotional intensity as immediate, embodied experience.

Teacher: Peter McEwen
When: Sept 3 · 11:00 AM MDT
Format: 90 minutes · Live online
Cost: Free

About the session

Meeting an emotion directly.

When a difficult emotion arises, the physical experience is often immediate: pressure in the chest, heat in the face, a tightening in the belly. Then the story begins. We explain, defend, withdraw, rehearse the argument, or reach for something that might make the feeling go away. These responses may bring temporary relief, but they also reinforce the assumption that the feeling itself is intolerable—that we cannot simply remain present with it.

Meeting an emotion is an invitation to return to the immediate experience of the body. We’ll work with the inquiry, “What might I be experiencing right now that I’m trying to escape from?” From there, we’ll examine how rumination, self-absorption, and reactivity function as attempts to protect us from vulnerable experience. By setting these strategies aside for a few moments, we can stay intimate with what is arising and discover what is actually here.

In this 90-minute session, Peter McEwen will teach a practical method for working with difficult emotions through body, breath, and attention. The session includes guided practice, teaching, and time for questions.

The method

What we’ll practice.

You’ll learn how to:

Use reactivity as a cue to return to immediate experience
Return from interpretation to sensation-level experience
Work with intensity in brief, manageable intervals
Stay with a feeling without requiring it to change or resolve
Stay with what you are feeling long enough to discover whether an immediate response is needed

The practice is simple, although carrying it into an intense moment can be challenging. We remain embodied for a few moments at a time, temporarily set aside the story surrounding the emotion, and bring our attention to the sensations themselves.

Over time, this builds our capacity to stay intimate with vulnerability, contradiction, and uncertainty as they appear in ordinary life.

Read the companion essay

The written instructions.

The companion essay contains the complete written instructions and further commentary. You can read it before the event, return to it afterward, or use it as a guide for your own practice.

The Current · The Field

"A Simple Practice for Meeting and Metabolizing Difficult Emotions"

Read the essay

Who this session is for

For those willing to investigate

This session is for people interested in developing a more direct relationship with difficult emotions. It may be especially useful if you:

Understand your patterns but still get pulled into them
Notice yourself withdrawing, becoming defensive, or constructing a case
Notice yourself relying on meditation, distraction, or another person’s response to make emotional intensity go away
Want a concrete practice you can use in relationships and daily life

No previous experience with The Field is required.

About the practice

Working at your own capacity.

This practice is intended for people who have enough stability and support to approach difficult feelings with curiosity. If you are currently in crisis, actively using substances to manage your experience, or experiencing severe mental health symptoms, please work with a qualified professional before attempting it. The workshop is educational and is not a substitute for psychotherapy, medical care, or crisis support.

About the teacher

Practice is growing the capacity to stay with whatever is already present. States pass, but the capacity for intimate, present contact with your own aliveness is what remains.

The teacher

Peter McEwen

founder of The Field

Date Thursday, September 3, 2026

Time 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM MDT

Where Live online

Peter McEwen is the founder of The Field, where he teaches embodied contemplative practices for meeting intensity, vulnerability, and contradiction without withdrawing from ordinary life.

His work brings together decades of meditation and retreat practice, psychological inquiry, and sustained attention to how patterns of avoidance pull us away from immediate embodied experience. He teaches meditation as a practical craft, developed through repetition, direct contact with experience, and curiosity about what actually works.

States change, capacity remains.

Thursday, September 3, 2026 · 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM MDT. Ninety minutes, live online, with guided practice, teaching, and time for questions.