Hi,
My name is Cindy and I'm a clinical therapist,
Reiki master,
And yoga teacher.
Today I will be guiding you through a practice of sitting with difficult emotions.
This meditation is the follow-up to my recorded talk you can find on my page titled Difficult Emotions,
Why We Hold On,
And Learning to Let Them Go.
Before we get started,
Remember to keep an open heart and mind throughout this practice.
Just allow whatever happens to happen.
By doing this practice regularly,
You will be able to facilitate the movement of emotions through you for deep emotional healing.
Start by getting yourself into a comfortable seated position,
Either on the floor or in a chair.
If it feels comfortable to you,
Gently closing the eyes.
Start by noticing any sounds that you can hear around you,
Then feeling the weight of your body being supported by the ground underneath you,
And then bringing your attention to the breath.
Noticing the breath as it flows in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Noticing the expansion of the body on the inhale and the contraction on the exhale.
Now,
Allowing yourself to go into your mind,
Noticing the thoughts that might be running through.
Maybe there's a situation,
A thought,
Or a person that keeps coming up and that's been on your mind for a while.
Without judging whatever it is that comes up,
Simply trusting that whatever is coming up for you at this time is what your body is ready to be with.
Now,
Just allow the mind to run for a bit with the situation,
Thought,
Or person that has come up for you.
Give your mind some time to think and judge as much as it wants to until you start to notice emotions coming to the surface or tension coming into the body.
Once you notice emotions coming up,
Internally naming what these emotions are that you are feeling.
It may be sadness,
Hurt,
Shame,
Pain,
Anger,
Or a combination of several different emotions.
Just noticing and naming them to yourself.
Now,
Scan through your body and notice where you are feeling these emotions.
It may feel like a heaviness in the chest,
Knots in the stomach,
Tightness in the back,
Clenching in the throat or jaw.
Just notice where these emotions are showing up for you.
Now,
Knowing where you feel this in your body,
Turn your attention back to the mind,
Seeing all the thoughts and judgments swirling around in the brain,
Thanking the brain for doing its job and helping to stir up these emotions.
And seeing all of these thoughts,
All of these judgments,
Turn into bubbles as they flow up out of the brain,
Into the sky,
Up and away from you,
Returning your attention to the body and notice again where you feel these emotions.
Without trying to understand these feelings,
Without trying to make sense of them,
Not trying to cover them up,
Simply holding space and allowing them to be here.
Maybe this brings tears,
Tightness,
Just allowing.
Noticing if you've gone back up into the mind,
Back to the thoughts and judgments of,
I don't want to feel this,
This is too painful,
I can't believe that happened.
Seeing all of those thoughts,
All of those judgments,
Turn into bubbles as they float up out of the brain,
Into the sky,
Up and away from you,
Returning your attention to the body and continuing to hold space for these emotions to be here,
No matter how they show up.
Taking a moment to lightly wrap your arms around you in a light hug,
As a reminder that your only job is to hold these emotions with patience,
Love,
And kindness,
Not trying to understand,
Not judging,
Not trying to cover them up,
Just allowing.
Noticing again if you've gone back up into the mind,
Back to the thoughts and judgments,
Seeing all of those thoughts,
All of those judgments,
Turn into bubbles as they flow up out of your brain,
Into the sky,
Up and away from you,
Going back into the body,
Continuing to hold these emotions with patience and kindness,
Allowing them to be there.
Seeing in your mind a bright,
Beautiful golden light coming down from the highest point in the sky above you,
That completely surrounds your body.
See and feel this beautiful golden light completely wrapping around you and holding you like a small child,
With patience,
Love,
And kindness,
Accepting you and all your emotions exactly as you are.
See and feel this golden light as it helps in guiding you into more deeply allowing these emotions to be here,
Teaching you to hold them with love and giving them space.
Noticing again if you've gone back up into the mind,
Back into the thoughts and judgments,
Seeing all of those thoughts,
All of those judgments,
Turn into bubbles as they flow up out of your brain,
Into the sky,
Up and away from you,
Going back into the body,
Continuing to hold,
Continuing to allow,
To give space.
Noticing maybe how the emotions seem to flow in like waves,
Starting off small and becoming very big,
Big and medium-sized and really big again,
But just allowing,
Continuing to hold,
Continuing to allow,
To give space.
Noticing again if you've gone back up into the mind,
Back to the thoughts and judgments,
Seeing all of those thoughts,
All of those judgments,
Turn into bubbles as they flow up out of your brain,
Into the sky,
Up and away from you,
Not trying to understand these emotions,
Not trying to cover them up,
Not judging them,
Simply allowing.
Taking a moment to notice now how the emotions feel in the body.
They might feel very big or small,
Not judging how they feel,
But just noticing.
Understanding that while some emotions clear quickly,
Others need more time.
Taking a moment to thank your body for this connection,
Knowing that you can come back to this practice to continue giving space for your emotions to pass through.
By meeting your difficult emotions in this way,
With patience,
Kindness,
And love,
Without judgments,
You free them in being able to move through and out of the body.
Thank you so much for joining me today for this practice and for allowing yourself this time.
