Welcoming Sadness

It's very common when people feel sad to what the feeling to go away! Sometimes people think they shouldn't be feeling like this, or it should have passed by now, or just that it's an unpleasant feeling.

This can result in fighting against the feeling, and making ourselves feel worse.

In this meditation we practise allowing ourselves to feel the sadness. It might be possible to see the beauty in the sadness, and it might even pass more quickly.

Transcript

Beginning by taking some deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Filling the lungs to maximum capacity and then letting all the air out of the mouth.

Closing the eyes,

Allowing the breath to return to its natural with it.

Noticing sounds.

Feeling the contact between the body and the chair.

Allowing the body to sink down,

Be supported,

Be held.

Feeling the contact with the feet and the floor.

Noticing what's happening in the mind right now.

If there are lots of thoughts swirling around like a snow storm.

If it's like a clear blue sky with just a few clouds occasionally passing through.

Either way,

Seeing if you can just accept it is what it is.

It's okay for my mind to be doing this.

Noticing sounds.

Scanning through the body and noticing for about 30 seconds if there are any particular areas of tension.

Noticing the overall mood that you're experiencing right now.

Whether it's happiness,

Sadness,

Boredom,

Excitement,

Calm,

Restlessness,

Stress,

Relaxation,

Anxiety,

Contentment.

Seeing if it's possible to name the mood or emotion and again accept it as neither good or bad.

Noticing the body and the chair.

Feeling the breath within the body and noticing the qualities of the breath.

Is this breath heavy?

Is it light?

Is it changing from moment to moment?

Noticing the body and the chair.

Noticing if the breath is more apparent in the belly area,

Chest area or around the nose.

Resting the attention in one particular place where the breath is felt most strongly.

Counting one as you breathe in,

Two as you breathe out,

Three as you breathe in,

Four as you breathe out,

Up to ten and then back again.

Noticing the body and the chair.

Noticing the body and the chair.

Noticing the breath.

When the mind wanders.

Noticing where it's wandered to and then patiently bringing it back to the breath.

Noticing if there are any feelings of sadness present in the body or in the mind right now.

Any thoughts related to sadness?

Seeing if it's possible to be really interested in those feelings.

Where are they in the body?

Perhaps around the chest area,

Around the belly area,

Maybe in the face.

Really zooming in and investigating with a kind and curious attention.

What does this feeling feel like?

Does it have a size,

A shape,

A colour?

Is it a sense of numbness,

A lack of feeling?

And however it feels,

Seeing if it's possible to be okay with it.

Not trying to get rid of it,

Not judging it,

Not telling yourself,

I shouldn't be feeling like this.

Letting it be.

For as long as it wants to be there.

Trusting that in time,

In its own time,

It will pass.

As everything passes.

You've never felt an emotion that didn't pass before.

This is just the same.

Seeing if anything changes when you really pour your attention into this feeling.

Perhaps nothing changes.

That's okay too.

Reminding yourself it's okay to feel sad.

Everybody feels sad sometimes.

It's okay to cry.

Crying can be a wonderful release,

A relief.

It's okay to cry.

Remember,

You are loved.

And you are a loving person.

You are a good person.

Feeling sad is not a sign that there's something wrong with you.

It just shows that you are a human being having a human reaction.

Can you allow yourself,

Can you give yourself permission to feel this?

Trusting that feeling it is the best way for you to be able to let go of it in time.

And now letting the mind do whatever it wants for a few moments.

It wants to think,

Letting it think.

Bringing the attention back to the weight of the body on the chair.

The feet on the floor.

Noticing sounds.

When you are ready slowly opening the eyes.

Taking a moment to notice if you feel any different.

And if you don't,

That's okay.

It's a gradual process of becoming more and more willing to feel the feeling.

This is the best way for you to process and let go of it.

But it won't necessarily happen all at once.

So be gentle with yourself for the rest of the day.

Reviews

Pacing and tone of message was ideal for understanding and experiencing. Easy to follow. There were a couple of times it seemed the audio changed (background noise). This was slightly distracting.

Excellent gentle guidance. The pace felt just right. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, this was exactly what i needed.

I was left more spacious, more ready to simply be with unpleasant feelings, especially sadness. Nicely paced. Time to breath and experience his guidance. Will listen again.

Great and helpful - I struggle with wanting to run away from emotions rather that feeling

Thank you for this meditation. Felt lighter at the end after feeling a heavy sadness over the last couple of days. Will come back to it as needed.

Really nice. Unhurried, grounding, effective and not excessively talkative.

This was just perfect. I am still in the throes of sadness, but the breathing, the pace, the length and the messaging of this meditation track were just what I needed. I’ll be doing this one later today and every day until I don’t need it.

Perfect, especially if you have trouble crying.

Helped me to sit with my sadness and feel lighter and calmer. Thank you! Namaste 🙏❤️

Cannot thank you enough. I hope I can learn to live with my feelings.

Thank you. This is very helpful and comforting when you’re having a bad time or day

Really enjoyed this, felt some sadness and other emotions. Thank you!

i was constantly wondering "do i let people get to know me for real? can i be real and genuine in my speak?". i could to get in touch directly with my sadness and feel it, and now i feeling so much better because i allowed me to cry. right now im resonating in my head "be gentle to yourself the rest of the day" this touched me a lot

I've gone through a lot of family trauma, even doing EMDR therapy hasn't been able to let me crack into how I really feel. Sitting and having the guide tell me it's okay to feel, it's okay to notice these things, has slowly allowed me to let the tears flow little by little. Thank you for this guidance 💜

Excellent on many levels! Enjoyed not having background music to unnecessarily excite, the deep non-speaking parts, and the reeling back to observing the breath meditation. The acceptance of any emotions was also very kind. Thank you for this very nice guided meditation.

Simple, soothing and healing. Helped me to calm down instantly and be a bit more comfortable with myself and my thoughts again. Thank you ❤️

Really lovely thank you. Great pace and great structure and really helped

Very simple, wonderful guided meditation into the practice of accepting one's feelings. I found the silence and lack of background music refreshing. Thank you

Lovely. I did this lying down since sadness often manifests as physical fatigue for me and found it to be very effective that way. Will try as a sitting meditation next time.