Welcome to this practice,
Being present with sadness and depression.
Sadness and depression are difficult and uncomfortable emotions to be with.
None of us wants to be weighed down with the often heavy and stuck sensations of these emotions.
Sadness and depression arise when we have suffered a loss,
Disappointment,
Grief,
Or trauma.
And many of us have lived with generational and genetic depression in our families or ourselves for a very long time.
It is natural to want these feelings to go away,
Especially if they persist.
A mindfulness approach to sadness and depression is to turn towards them with kindness and curiosity rather than rejecting,
Judging,
Or pushing them away.
We are not trying to change these feelings,
Rather be with them in a new and different way.
As we begin to notice our emotions mindfully,
We can experience the fact that they shift and change in intensity and tone like modulating weather patterns in the sky.
This skill really takes practice and will grow over time,
So please be patient with yourself.
As with any challenging emotion,
Pace yourself so that you're not overwhelmed with this practice.
Doing more is not better.
Remember,
You can always practice just a part of this meditation and gradually work up to listening to the whole practice.
So let's begin.
Settle your body into a comfortable posture,
Making any adjustments needed for some increased comfort.
See if you can notice a neutral or pleasant body sensation.
This could be your nose or ears,
Or warmth in your hands,
Or the feeling of your feet against the ground.
Now bring to mind a current or remembered experience of mild sadness or depression.
As you remember this experience,
Ask yourself,
What body sensations am I experiencing right now that I label sad or depressed?
Are you feeling a heaviness somewhere in your body or tears welling up in your eyes?
Perhaps there is a feeling of numbness in a part of your body or through your whole body.
It is very helpful to shift your attention away from the storyline of what happened and focus your awareness on the present moment sensations that you're experiencing.
Remembering to pace yourself gently.
If you feel your emotions are getting too big or uncomfortable,
Back off of this practice for a moment.
You can return to the breath or your neutral body sensation.
Or look around your room and orient to the space you're in.
Or even close the practice for now and end it.
There will always be another opportunity to expand your capacity to be present to these emotions.
As you are aware of your sensations,
You may notice that they begin to modulate or shift on their own.
The sensations may move to a different part of your body,
Spread out to a larger area,
Shrink to a smaller area,
Or increase or decrease in intensity.
This is the elegant process of your body,
Mind,
And heart coming into more regulation with your kind attention.
If you don't notice much of a shift in the sensations,
That's okay.
This process takes time.
You are initiating communication with your body and the body's experience of emotion.
Sadness and depression often create disconnection to our sensations,
So it may take a while for them to re-emerge in your awareness.
If your wandering mind or inner critic interrupts this sensation process,
That's okay.
All of us will have thoughts that come and go during our practice.
We may have even taken a deep dive into stories of the past with regrets or disappointments,
Or catapulted ourselves into the future with worries or a sense of hopelessness.
These are the common mental states of sadness and depression that have a powerful effect on our body state and sensation.
By returning our attention to our present moment sensations,
We land right back in the here and now to the sensations of the breath,
Our body,
And our intention of kindness.
Now shift your focus to find a place in your body that feels neutral or even pleasant as we did in our initial settling.
Perhaps you noticed a solid sensation under your feet or your seat.
Maybe your body temperature is just right.
Or maybe you sense softness or relaxation in even a small area of your body,
Like your ears,
Nose,
Or fingers.
As you rest your attention on these more comfortable sensations,
Linger and savor this goodness for a few moments.
If it's hard to find a comfortable place in your body,
Open the lens of your awareness to notice part of your external environment.
Perhaps an object you can see or touch that feels neutral or positive or even beautiful.
Strong,
Challenging emotions can narrow our attention so much that we can forget that there is more beauty and color available to us at any time.
Now shift your attention back to the sensations of your sadness or depression and be curious if they're the same or if they have shifted.
They may feel a bit different,
Especially as you have just explored a more comfortable area of your body.
Slowly pendulate or shift your attention back and forth between the area of discomfort and the sensations of comfort.
Feel this inherent rhythm shifting back and forth slowly with your attention,
Acknowledging that you can hold both discomfort as well as noticing more comfort.
As we end this practice,
Close with your attention on sensations of greater comfort.
This opening of our attention beyond just the experience of sadness and depression is an important part of being present and moving out of feeling overwhelmed.
Standing in our mindful,
Curious awareness gives us just a bit of space and distance from our feelings,
Which shifts our relationship to them.
You're not sad or depressed.
You are having an experience of these emotions.
Who you are is much greater than these feelings.
As we bring this practice to a close,
Let's end with this beautiful kindness intention.
For whatever it is that I'm feeling now,
May I hold this too with kindness.
For whatever it is that I'm feeling now,
May I hold this too with kindness.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
