Hello everyone.
After a lot of reflection and some confusion,
I've found my way to the next practice I want to offer in this Coping with COVID-19 series.
And this is the beautifully simple,
But also really confronting practice of connecting with our feelings.
It's a revisiting of this concept from last time with my own improved clarity.
And I think this has been a really good reminder for me because I find this is a practice,
However many times I learn it or sort of gain insight into dropping down into my body and connecting with my feelings,
It's something I find I always have to come back and relearn.
And it really is a fundamental foundation of mindfulness.
We'll start with our gong sound.
And then our one minute silence where I'd ask you to just let your feelings about what's going on within yourself and the world around this COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.
Just flow freely.
Let your feelings flow for one minute of silence.
Let your feelings flow for one minute of silence.
And then today's practice is this.
It's to drop your attention and awareness down into your physical body and search for and open up to what you are feeling right now.
Finding for your emotions,
What do I feel?
And looking for it in your body.
I want you to do that simply and I also want you to do it fearlessly.
We create a lot of confusion for ourselves by analysing and thinking about what we feel by doing things to and with our body to avoid what we feel.
And this fundamental core mindfulness practice is just about dropping down into our bodies and really feeling it.
It's so simple but it's so hard to do and often can be really confronting too.
It's such a rewarding practice.
So drop your attention,
Your awareness,
Your focus fearlessly and honestly down into your physical body where I ask you to just connect in simple terms with what do I feel right now.
I'm going to give you some space and ask you to just keep repeating and repeating that practice as your attention and awareness wanders onto other things.
What do I feel right now?
You're struggling to kind of find or know the answer,
Just let your attention and awareness float around on this question with this open question,
What do I feel right now?
Perhaps where do I feel it?
I'm going to give you some space and ask you to just keep repeating and repeating that practice by focusing your attention on these specific questions.
And then when we've made contact with what we're feeling,
And I'd encourage you to continue to hold this internal space you found,
We'll introduce the breath as well.
Awareness of our breathing.
I am breathing in when you're breathing in,
I am breathing out when you're breathing out.
Just find the rhythm and flow of your own breathing.
Your breath is the bridge,
A life force bridge between the outside world as you experience it and your internal world.
It connects us to both of those parts of ourselves,
Our individual inner world and our connection to the world around us.
And with regards to our feelings,
Our breath is something that allows us to expand,
To grow and expand.
It can help us to connect with and sit with and find our place with what we are feeling right now,
However challenging,
And it can allow us to grow and expand and connect with the world around us.
So for the last couple of minutes of this practice,
Just bringing your awareness to your breath.
I am breathing in and I am breathing out.
I am breathing in,
I am breathing out.
I am breathing out.
And I would like to ask you to ride that flow of your breath and the connection it offers with your internal world and the world around you back into the remainder of your day or evening as you connect to the sound of the gong.
You can do a micro version of this practice throughout your day and throughout your week by just moment by moment dropping into your body and an awareness of what am I feeling now and then bringing your attention to your breathing for a couple of breaths.
Thank you.
