Cultivating Emotional Resilience

This meditation helps us be with our experience of feelings and emotions. In this practice, we investigate the emotional energies that arise around a particular issue and look at our relationship to our emotions and any unconscious beliefs we might be carrying. Bringing limiting beliefs into our Awareness, we are able to see with clarity what unconscious conditioning around our emotions might be blocking our health and happiness and we observe them dissolve in the light of Awareness. This practice helps us cultivate a wise, balanced and resilient relationship to our emotions.

Transcript

This meditation is a practice to help us be with our experience of feelings and emotions.

We will be investigating the emotional energies that arise around a particular issue.

Looking at our relationship to our emotions and any unconscious beliefs we might be carrying,

I would not suggest that you choose the worst experience in your life and especially any type of trauma.

It would be most helpful,

Especially when you first begin to practice with emotions,

To choose something mild or slightly uncomfortable rather than anything that is too intense.

If at any point in this practice you begin to feel overwhelmed,

If your breathing becomes labored or shallow,

Or you feel too distraught,

You may wish to return your attention to your breath to anchor yourself,

Becoming aware of the body in contact with the ground as the earth,

Or even to open your eyes to help gain more groundedness and present moment awareness.

I'm so inviting you to begin the practice,

Sitting in a relaxed and alert posture.

You may wish to lay down too,

That's perfectly fine.

Allowing your hands to rest on your lap or comfortably to your sides.

I'm collecting your attention,

Taking a few deep breaths into the lungs,

And letting go of what's come before this moment,

And just dropping in to right now.

Just sitting,

Just breathing,

Taking a pause,

Noticing what's here.

Tracking the next breath as it enters into the body,

And observing the exhale,

Just to help guide you into the moment.

And now inviting you to bring to mind a situation where you get reactive or stuck.

This could be something that's very alive for you right here now,

Perhaps from earlier today,

Or stress or concern that's on your mind.

Or it could be something to draw up,

Some conflict with yourself,

Where you may get triggered now and then.

Some issue that you can easily bring to mind,

Where you feel particular emotions,

Perhaps even one that feels uncomfortable for you,

Such that you tend to avoid it or try to ignore.

But your wisest self knows is important and meaningful.

It might be around an issue or pattern where you close yourself off from others,

Where you silence yourself or you shut down,

Or perhaps you armor up and become tense,

Defended.

Somewhere in your life where you notice you get caught in reactivity and are not connected with your wisest,

Most aware self.

And not searching too hard,

Just allowing whatever wants to arise to arise in the mind.

And if nothing comes easily,

That's perfectly fine.

Just allowing yourself to follow the practice and not worrying.

Just being with what is.

And if something has arisen in which to work with,

Where you find yourself reactive or stressed or caught,

See if it can bring the scene to mind with as much clarity as you can.

Like watching a movie.

Put yourself back into the scene where this reactivity is activated.

Where you know there's a trigger,

Where you feel the stress or the tension,

Where you shut down or feel discomfort and some emotional reactivity.

Notice the characters in the scene if there are others besides yourself.

And replay the moment in your mind when you feel the tense or the uncomfortable contraction of that sense that something is now off.

Could be anger,

Sadness,

Fear,

Whatever.

When you find the scene and bring it to mind and you see where you get caught,

Freeze the characters if there are others and stay with your experience now.

And if nothing comes to mind as an image or scene for you,

That's also perfectly fine.

Just stay with the meditation and notice what arises in your experience in the now.

And all the characters in the scene now still bring your awareness to your body,

To your experience.

What feelings arise around this particular issue?

Try some feeling words on and see what fits.

Perhaps frustration or anger.

Fear or anxiety.

A sense of shame or unworthiness.

A sense of not belonging,

Rejection,

Loneliness.

Or perhaps sadness,

Sorrow or grief.

Are there sensations that are noticeable?

Perhaps in the throat,

The chest or the belly.

And if you're not sure,

That's perfectly fine.

It's possible that there is more than one emotion present,

Which can create a sense of confusion or uncertainty,

Fogginess,

Not a problem.

Just staying with what's here.

Investigating with interest,

Curiosity,

And kind attention to the experience of emotion in the body right now.

How are you relating to the emotion that's here?

Is there a sense of openness,

Interest,

Or perhaps tension and cautiousness?

As an experiment,

What happens if you say no to the feelings that are here?

Notice the sense in your body,

Your mind,

Sensations.

Does resistance arise?

Perhaps judging thoughts that comment on not liking or dismissing what's here.

Perhaps there's doubt or fear that if I open to this feeling,

There will be a tidal wave of feelings that won't end.

It will be too much.

Thoughts that say,

I can't open to the feelings.

Or a sense that something bad will happen.

Just noticing if any of these beliefs about feelings and emotions arise in the form of thoughts.

You might notice thoughts like,

I shouldn't feel this way.

I'm wrong to feel sad or angry that somehow it's not okay.

I'm judgment,

Like I'm weak.

Just observing what arises as you say no to the feelings.

And you may ask yourself this question,

Is it true?

What's it like to live with these beliefs?

This mental map that's guiding you.

What's it like in the body,

In your heart when you're believing this?

Just seeing with clear and open eyes what it's like.

What am I believing about my feelings or myself that might be getting in my way of being with what is here?

Just observing and watching it all with a sense of spaciousness,

With a kind interest and curiosity.

Not judging yourself in any way for what arises.

And now inviting you to bring in an attitude of yes to what's here.

Not yes,

Meaning I like this,

But rather just whispering the word yes in your mind as this is what's here.

This.

And see what this tone feels like in your body,

In your awareness.

Yes,

This too.

Noticing the sensations in your body.

It might be tingling,

Sense of tightness,

Perhaps vibration in certain places.

The throat,

The chest or the belly,

The head.

If you do,

You might invite this next in-breath to move into the sensations.

Breathing into the throat,

The chest or belly,

Or wherever you feel strong sensation.

Perhaps also there's no sensation,

Perhaps numbness,

Feeling neutral.

All is fine,

There's no right or wrong here.

Just observing,

Tuning in and noticing what arises as you investigate your emotions related to this issue in your life.

And when the mind pulls your attention away from your body and your emotions,

That's fine,

It's to be expected.

With a gentle kindness to yourself,

Gently bring your attention back to the body,

Back to the breath and what emotional energies and sensations are here.

Perhaps taking in a deep and full breath in,

Seeing if you can expand your openness,

Your acceptance of what is here right now.

Right now.

Relaxing and opening to it all,

Yes,

This too.

What would it be like to be able to hold all of these human feelings without judgment?

But with interest,

Curiosity and compassion.

And you imagine the world around you,

And the world around you,

And the world around you.

And you imagine what it would be like to hold each of these waves of emotion.

Holds all of the waves equally without judgment,

Without rejection,

Without beliefs that they're wrong or bad.

But with acceptance,

Because it's here and is part of this human experience.

Asking yourself,

Who would I be without these beliefs?

What would it feel like to be able to be with all of the waves of emotion without judging them?

Without censoring myself or hiding,

Shutting down,

But able to say yes to what is here?

Who would I be?

Can you get a glimmer?

Let go and rest in this space.

Reviews

Amazing 🙏💛

Excellent, well guided practice.

It’s such an interesting journey you invited listeners to! I am very grateful for this practice: I feel like I touched some layers of feelings inside me I wasn’t able to recognise. I definitely will come back to this practice again and again

Thank you. I like the questions that you have us reflect on. “Who would I be?” resonated with me. So grateful for this meditation.

Very soothing voice. Calming meditation with no distracting background music. 🙏

I feel very very heavy on my body and mind,I feel that I need to go to sleep.
Namaste

Thank you. I feel a sense of relief.

This was really good. Especially for those who have already done work on their trauma issues and want to explore further. Namaste 🙏🏽

Book marked for future reference. Thank you. Really enjoyed our time.

Really powerful. Thank you 🙏🏻

This meditation makes me feel hopeful. Thank you.