It is a fact of life that difficult emotions are.
Of life.
Did you know that most.
.
.
Emotions last about 90 seconds.
That's the chemical reaction in the brain tracking the length of time that an emotion on its own will exist.
Make that worse or better by the way we approach it if you feel the emotion,
If you let it take over your whole experience,
If you fuel it with mind.
Chatter.
Like you're angry about something.
And so you're just remunerating.
Oh,
I can't believe she said that.
She's such a jerk.
Why would she say that to all those kind of thoughts?
They can fuel the emotion,
Make it bigger,
Worse,
Last longer.
Or if you kind of try to shove it.
In the back of the mind,
Kind of ignore the emotion.
That also makes it worse and can,
It can build in pressure and pressurized,
Shoved down,
Pressurized emotions eventually.
Going to explode in some way.
So today we'll deal with how do you go through?
The range of an emotion and How do you nurture yourself?
To heal what hurts most about the situation.
This practice called RAIN.
R-a-i-n it was popularized by Tara Brock one of my teachers so let's get into it settle in,
Get comfortable.
Maybe you'd like to have a seat.
You could lay down or stand up.
Lay on your side or sit down.
Take a few big full breaths.
Take a full breath in through the nose.
And maybe a big sigh,
Letting go out the mouth.
You might do two more big breaths like that if that's helpful too.
Help yourself.
Settle.
And.
.
.
Let go.
Of any obvious places of attention.
If you'd like to close eyes.
You might close the eyes or soften your gaze or gaze down.
Turning your attention inward.
Feeling this breath in.
And this breath out.
Following the breath with your consciousness.
If you had any time this.
Practice feels like too much,
You can always come back to just feeling the breath like this.
Bring to mind some recent situation.
Where there was a difficult emotion.
Not anything that was traumatic or brings up any relation to trauma.
But some medium.
Or small thing.
That set off an emotional reaction.
Was some emotion you didn't want to deal with or you don't like having.
Play through this situation.
Like a movie in your mind.
Seeing where you were.
What was done.
What was.
.
.
How you reacted,
What you did.
Play through this situation again,
See if you can bring it in.
Really close.
Remembering maybe what it felt like to be there to go through this.
Look for the part of this experience that was really the worst.
What was the part that really.
.
.
Set you off.
Was it the expression of someone or The tone of voice.
Or the words they used.
And recognize what emotion comes up because of this.
Anger,
Sadness,
Frustration.
Annoyance.
Sadness,
Disappointment.
Allow this emotion to be here.
Breathe with it.
You may even.
.
.
Form the face into the shape of an emotion almost like a caricature.
Of what it felt like.
See if you can find where the epicenter of this emotion is in your body.
Is it.
.
.
Flushing in the cheeks or a tightness in the throat.
Does it feel like a wound in the heart?
A sinking in the belly.
I'm going to this.
Center of the wounded place.
Ask this wound.
How can I help you or what do you need from me?
Or how would you like me to be with you?
In response there may be words.
Like,
I'm sorry,
Or.
.
.
I wish you had been heard or- can't believe that was done or you did not deserve this.
Maybe even something as simple as.
.
.
It's okay now or This really hurt,
Didn't it?
It might be nice to add it.
Gesture of care also a hand gently placed on the heart or the cheek,
A caress of the cheek.
Or even giving yourself a hug.
To nurture this wound with words or gesture.
Let yourself take in this care.
Your suffering matters.
Come back to seeing what your breath feels like now.
Noting how you feel generally.
Do you feel like.
.
.
The emotion is still strong or that the care is still here or that you've passed through all of it and you're free.
No wrong or right answer.
Just sense what is here.
To bring this to a close,
You might notice your body in contact with the surface below you.
Maybe take a full breath in,
Maybe a sigh to let it out.
Sigh.
And when we're ready,
Open the eyes back up if they were closed.
I hope that was helpful for you too.
Go through the emotion.
The famous quote is,
The only way out is through.
And that really is true.
Even for our most difficult emotions.
All right,
Hopefully this practice was helpful.
Come back again tomorrow to practice this or some other meditation.
