Being With Emotion

Our emotions are our greatest teachers. We don't sit to push them away, we sit to learn to hear the voice of their wisdom. In this guided meditation, you will be led into the gifts that all of your present emotions hold. With grace and love, we will listen and feel what needs to be tended to.

Transcript

Hi friends!

Today we're going to just do a little meditation just to get some connection,

To understand and investigate and get curious around what's going on inside,

And then just to be with whatever it is.

So know that there is no perfect way to do meditation.

If you are choosing to sit down just make sure you can sit comfortably with a long spine.

If you want to lie down you're welcome to do that,

Or if you're driving or walking that's okay too.

I will guide you seated but you choose how you wish to do this practice.

So wherever you're at before you come into this investigation just maybe taking three really deep breaths and really thinking about letting everything go on the exhale.

Shaking everything maybe out the body,

Just taking a deep breath in and then shaking everything out,

Just clearing the body away of whatever doesn't serve,

Whatever doesn't need to be here right now,

Whatever isn't yours.

I'm doing that two more times and then maybe just coming into your body in whatever way makes sense to you.

So maybe opening and closing the jaw or taking some shoulder rolls,

Rotating the neck from side to side,

And then eventually finding your way into a comfortable tall seat,

Pelvis slightly tucked forward,

Spine long,

Reaching up towards the sky.

You can roll your shoulders forward,

Up and back and down just so that you can really feel that lengthening of the crown of the head towards the sky as you make sure that your head is stacked over your heart.

And then just let your chin fall slightly down towards the heart.

Palms can be facedown for a little more grounding,

Palms can be face up for a little more uplifting,

Energizing energy.

You choose.

And then just arriving here.

This might be the first time in a while that you have found this sense of stillness.

So if the mind is wandering,

If there's fidgeting happening,

Any of that stuff is normal.

Can you just return again and again to the weight of your seat connected to the earth?

Can you feel your sits bones or whatever is touching the earth as it becomes heavy?

And just begin to put out a welcome mat to allow whatever is here today to be here,

Whatever wants to be seen,

Shown,

Felt,

That it is welcome.

And perhaps just starting to deepen your inhales and then really deepen and lengthen your exhales.

Allow the exhale to just melt the body down into the earth's holding.

As if all that thinking energy and all the tension being held in the head and the shoulders could just melt on that inhale.

And then on your long exhale,

Everything could just be flushed down into the earth like water.

So just letting that exhale wash away what doesn't need to be here,

What doesn't serve.

Letting it go.

Letting the earth take it.

Just doing this for another couple of breaths.

And then as you breathe your next inhale in,

Just starting to notice the coolness of the air as it breathes in through the tip of the nostrils.

And as you exhale,

Notice the temperature change,

Notice the warmth as the air leaves the tip of the nostrils.

Can you stay with this awareness of the breath for just another couple of breaths?

And then once again,

Just acknowledging that the mind will wander,

Can we invite our awareness back over and over again into the weight of our seat,

Connected to the earth,

Into the breath as it breathes in and out?

Can we just arrive here?

Whatever came before has passed.

Whatever is coming after is in the future and has no place here.

All that is here is right now.

And as we exhale and let the body know that we are held here,

We are safe.

Can we start to get curious,

Placing a left hand over our heart to just check in and ask ourselves,

How are you right now?

And notice what comes up.

Notice where there's tension,

Where there's ease,

Where there's temperature,

Warmth,

Coolness.

Is there an emotion present here right now?

If there is fear,

That can live in the belly.

If there is sadness,

That can live in the lungs,

In the chest.

If there is anger,

That might be in the throat or in the jaw.

If there is joy,

We may feel it as a lightness and a warmth in the heart and ease in the body.

It will be different for all of us.

These are just ideas.

So what is here?

What emotion is here?

And can we let it be here?

Can we get curious and investigate whatever emotion presented itself first?

Continuing to breathe,

Always remembering that exhale and that anchor point of the seat or anything connected to the earth.

Can we place our hands over where this emotion is living in our body,

Where we might feel it?

And can we say hello?

Thank you for showing up.

You are welcome here with me right now.

Does this emotion have a color?

Does it have a temperature?

Does this emotion have a texture?

What about a shape?

What can you notice about this emotion that's present in whatever area of the body your hand is placed as you breathe,

As you allow,

Knowing that you are held and safe here?

How curious can you get about this emotion knowing that you are here?

That it has a gift for you.

If there is any urge to feel this emotion,

If there are tears that want to come,

Please let them come.

If there is a smile that wants to reach your lips,

Please let it happen.

What can you tell this emotion?

What does it need to hear?

Can we say you're allowed to feel this way?

You're allowed to be here.

Thank you for being here.

And we just be with this.

Notice how this emotion responds,

How our body responds,

How our breath responds.

Knowing we can stay at any point with the breath or the feeling of gravity or just this curiosity of the visual and feeling aspects of this emotion.

But if we want to go a step further,

Can we get curious around what perhaps is causing this emotion to show up today?

Can we be real and can we just accept whatever that is?

Breathing with it.

Feeling that anchor point.

And then just saying thank you.

Thank you to this emotion for showing up today.

Knowing that you have a choice to always do more investigation with this emotion.

Maybe you can spend more time with it today,

But for now,

This is enough.

You have felt it.

You have sat with it.

So just taking one more big,

Deep breath into where this emotion lives in the body and exhaling,

Letting the water of the breath just rinse it all away.

Tuning in once again to that feeling of gravity,

Holding,

Supporting you,

Embracing you always,

Knowing that you are never alone.

You are always held and every emotion has information,

Has a gift and needs to be felt.

Can you give yourself a big hug around your shoulders and just say thank you?

Notice how your body feels when you say this.

Notice how this emotion responds when you say this.

And whenever you're ready,

Maybe just placing both hands over the heart or both hands at prayer and gently dropping your chin,

Bowing into yourself,

Bowing into this emotion that showed up for whatever gift it has for us today.

Knowing that when you feel it,

You will heal it.

Whenever you're ready,

Rubbing your palms together to generate some energy,

Some heat and placing cupped palms over closed eyes,

Just so that you can arrive back into the space that you're in slowly,

If that is safe,

As long as you're not driving or walking.

And as you're ready,

Coming back into the awareness of your space.

And I would encourage you as you come back into this slowly to maybe journal or just take some notes around whatever showed up.

And recognize and be honest with yourself.

If maybe there's a little more work that needs to be done to feel this a little bit more,

Or maybe this was enough.

Whatever you choose to do,

It will be perfect because it is your practice.

Thank you for so much for investigating with me today.

I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day or evening and I'll see you again next time.