Self-Soothing | Emotional Healing

Welcome,

Dear ones.

I've been thinking about what practices serve me most in my life.

And I find that so much of the experience of suffering arises from resisting what is.

Resisting thoughts,

Resisting emotions,

Resisting physical sensations,

Resisting perceptions of the world.

And when I practice allowing,

It's as if the dam breaks.

That experience of pain,

That buildup of pressure and tension within me,

It releases.

And when all of that emotion,

Tension,

When that energy moves,

I have space to experience the freedom of my being.

I can access those qualities of the heart that make life seem so much sweeter and more enjoyable.

Not that life needs to be full of sweetness and qualities of the heart.

There is much to be learned and experienced from anger,

Fear,

And so many emotions.

However,

I know that my experience of the fullness of life is most invigorated when those qualities of the heart,

Compassion,

Kindness,

Joy,

Peace,

When they are enlivened within my being.

So I invite you to close the eyes as I guide us through an experience of how I tend to my own emotions,

My own needs,

In those moments where there is so much tension that I feel trapped,

Overwhelmed,

Burdened,

And I can't see a way out.

Become aware of the breath.

Feel its natural flow moving in and out.

This breath of life is nourishing the blood,

The cells,

The brain.

Every organ,

Every system of the body is nourished,

Is cared for by the breath.

Begin to deepen the breath.

As you inhale,

Feel the belly and the chest expand.

And as you exhale,

Feel the hips growing heavy.

The belly softens.

The inhalation fills the body with this life,

With this richness.

And the exhalation invites an ease,

A letting go.

Feel any clenching in the hands or feet begin to release.

Any tension through the belly,

The solar plexus in the chest begins to unwind.

Feel the shoulders relax down.

And this sense of ease,

Even a sense of lengthening through the muscles,

Happens all the way down to the fingertips.

Feel the space of the heart softening just because we're bringing our awareness to it.

We're not forcing anything to happen in the body right now.

Feel the space of the throat begin to expand.

The neck and the jaw begin to relax.

The face and the scalp also release this unconscious tension.

For these next few breaths,

I invite you to give yourself permission to feel whatever it is that you're feeling.

Again,

We release any need to change,

To get rid of what it is that we're experiencing.

Rather,

We're creating space for the experience to be whatever it is.

Start to notice the places in the body where this tension of the mind or emotions is showing up for you.

Place your hands over an area of the body where there is this discomfort or this feeling of discord.

Feel the warmth from your hands or the energy from your palms moving into this area of your body.

And begin to repeat these kind words to yourself.

It's okay.

It's okay that you're feeling this way.

It's okay.

It's okay that you're having this experience.

It won't last forever.

It's part of life to feel these ways.

There's nothing wrong with feeling.

Take a deep breath,

Begin to awaken a sense of kindness toward yourself.

Sometimes we feel alone in our struggles or lost.

And it can be so reassuring to have someone speak to us with kindness or just be present with us in our moment of discomfort.

What do you wish to say to yourself in this moment?

A caring thought,

A caring feeling.

If you wish,

Slowly move your hands to your heart center,

Or maybe it feels best to place your palms over your physical heart.

And again,

Feel this sense of kindness or comfort by having your hands placed over your heart.

Feel a warmth or a presence through this connection.

And again,

Say to yourself,

It's okay.

It's okay that you're feeling this way.

Feelings like this are part of life.

It's okay.

I'm here.

I'm here for you.

I'm right here for you.

It's okay to feel this way.

Take a deep breath.

Feel yourself opening to your own kindness and love.

And continue to say whatever it is that your heart or any part of you is longing to hear in this moment.

If you haven't already,

Go deeper within yourself.

And find what part of you is hurting in this moment.

Maybe there is part of you that is so angry,

You can barely sit still.

Or part of you that is feeling so much grief or fear that you feel weighted down by it.

Go inside and find this part of you.

Without any judgment,

Just a sense of genuine care and presence.

Without trying to make this part of you different or wrong.

And then give this part of you permission to be heard,

To be expressed with your full presence and caring.

Allow this part of you to say or in your mind act out whatever it needs so that this pressure,

This resistance can be released.

Continue to be there as a presence of love and kindness for this part of you.

And now ask this part of you,

What do you need?

What do you need in this moment?

What do you need from me in this moment?

Maybe this part of you needs to feel held.

Or maybe this part of you needs to hear more kindness from you,

To be given the space to be who you are.

Maybe this part of you needs a day of rest or simply to be heard more often.

With your hands on your heart,

Welcome this part of you fully.

Thank you.

And with the hands over the heart,

Be grateful to yourself.

Be so grateful that you can have the awareness to connect with these parts of you that are needing care,

That are needing support and encouragement.

Feel the gratitude that arises when we feel the wholeness with who we are.

When we feel connected to all parts of ourself,

When we release that judgment and rejection and welcome with open arms all of these different experiences that arise.

Because not one of them is wrong or bad.

They're just experiences.

Let's take a deep breath in.

Exhale through the mouth.

On your next breath in,

I invite you to reach the arms up to the sky.

And as you exhale,

Feel the shoulders relax down and the chest soften,

But the arms remain raised.

Inhale,

Open yourself like a chalice.

Welcome this life,

This expansion.

Exhale,

Feel the body relax a little more with the arms still raised.

One more breath like this.

Inhale,

Feel the body with breath,

With this life force,

With this connection to your own precious self.

And then exhale slowly,

Release the arms down.

With so much gratitude.

So much gratitude to your own self.

May we remember to be kind,

To be forgiving.

May we remember to listen and to be caring.

We're so often very hard on ourselves and really all we need is kindness,

Love and acceptance from our very own self.

I love you.

I'm so grateful to you.

Thank you for being on this journey with me.

With great love and blessings.

Thank you.

Thank you.