Maybe it's the middle of the night,
Or the middle of a tough day.
You've come to the right place.
Sometimes our feelings can be so overwhelming.
Our nervous system,
Our heart,
Our gut,
Our throat,
However we identify that tension and stress in our body,
It can feel like we're outside of our capacity to cope with whatever life has handed us in this moment.
You are not alone.
We all get to that place of overwhelm,
Stress,
Feeling stretched outside of our capacity to cope.
And in this moment,
Some compassion and some practical guidance on how to be with this moment,
How to find some rest in this moment,
And to give yourself a little stress SOS.
A little self-compassion,
Taking yourself out of the loop of fixing and trying to force solutions and resting in the present moment in a mindful way with compassion.
You can begin by making yourself comfortable,
Cozy.
Whatever position you're in,
Is it possible to get even more comfortable?
You could lie on your side,
Your back,
Your tummy.
Make any movements that will help you get to a place where it might be possible to feel slightly more relaxed,
At least in the physical body.
Take a nice deep breath in,
See if you can bring that breath all the way down into the lower abdomen.
It's okay if you can't,
Be with what is,
And then feel the breath move through the ribs all the way up to the collarbones.
It's okay to feel this way,
Even if it doesn't feel very okay in this moment.
What if,
Just for this moment,
You could feel it,
Rather than problem solving,
Ruminating on solutions,
Ruminating on what's wrong,
What if you could feel it rather than fix it?
There will be other opportunities to take action in this moment.
Let's feel it rather than fix it.
I'll invite you to check out where the tension,
The discomfort,
The strongest sensations lie in your physical body.
For many of us,
That can be a constriction or tightness,
Tension,
Somewhere between the throat and the gut,
Somewhere between the upper chest,
And difficult emotions are rarely monolithic or static,
So seeing if you can detach from a narrative around these strong physical sensations of discomfort and tune in to their shape,
Volume,
Frequency,
And how the difficult emotions might be moving inside of your torso,
Inside of your heart.
Breathe into that area and see if you can simply feel it,
Rather than forcing it to be other than it is.
Where is it?
How is it that you're aware of it?
Continue to breathe.
Stay with your breath.
Notice if you can,
If there's anywhere in your physical body where it feels pleasant or at least neutral.
Is there anywhere that you feel comfortable in this moment?
Can you take your attention there,
If so?
Bringing an attitude of friendliness,
Reminding yourself it's okay to feel this way.
We can't always feel pleasant.
Life can't always go our way.
And this moment will pass.
Nothing is permanent.
Right now,
This is here.
Feel it.
Don't feel it.
Breathe into the tension,
The difficulty.
Breathe out and see if you can get a bit heavier.
And softer in your physical body.
If it helps,
Repeating to yourself as needed,
Just in this moment,
Just feel it.
Don't fix it.
This is a moment for rest,
Ease.
Continue to breathe.
Breathe into the story,
Into the challenge,
Into wishing things were different.
Whatever it is,
See if you can come back.
You're feeling to what you're sensing.
Using as a mantra,
Feel it,
Don't fix it.
It's natural for the mind to cycle back into difficulty.
When it does,
Just return to the rhythm of breathing.
The feeling of tension.
And as able,
Taking your attention to where it might feel comfortable or at least neutral right now.
Maybe where the body is touching down.
Maybe there's somewhere else,
The scalp,
The hands,
The feet.
And offer you the rest of this.
An offering of this mantra,
If it works,
To feel it,
Don't fix it.
To come back with a gentle label of feeling.
And you can stay with this practice,
Drifting off to sleep.
Or just rest in gentle awareness.
When the music ends,
Be with it.
