Emotions are not dangerous.
The cognitive and physical behaviour that can arise out of negative emotional states can be destructive,
But the emotion itself is not harmful.
Negative emotional states can be uncomfortable,
Painful,
Unpleasant,
But by developing the ability to simply be aware of all emotions within the present and developing a deep acceptance of all emotion,
Regardless of how unpleasant or uncomfortable it may appear,
We can truly gain a sense of emotional safety within ourselves.
So through a powerful sense of acceptance and allowance,
And with a true courage and confidence,
Let's explore the nature of emotion itself and see if we can develop a very healthy relationship with our own inner emotional world.
Begin by asking yourself,
What am I feeling right now?
What is the current emotional weather in your present experience?
And do not allow yourself to be vague about this.
Let's see if we can really turn up the vividness,
The brightness on this image.
Let's define the edges of what you're currently feeling.
What actually is this?
Which emotions specifically?
Not allowing ourselves a vague sense of just feeling bad or feeling negative.
Cycle through certain words just to see which one might land.
Even if there is a sort of blankness there,
A numbness there,
You're not really aware of any particular emotion at this time,
Just register and notice the voidness,
The numbness,
And just feel that too.
But just running through the names of various emotions until one actually seems to land,
One actually seems to fit the current emotional state.
And keep running through the different names of all the emotions until one does land.
Often this can be very surprising.
We may think that we were feeling angry,
But actually we were feeling fear.
We thought we were feeling tired,
And actually we were feeling grief.
Perhaps we thought we were feeling fear,
But actually there was a deep sense of shame for some reason.
So just keep cycling through the different words for all the emotions until one truly does land.
And if it is quite surprising,
This is good,
This is powerful,
Insightful knowledge for you.
You are gaining a deep wisdom about yourself now.
Deeply recognise that all emotions are fine.
They are all healthy,
Natural parts of you,
And all emotions are there for a reason.
Everyone has the exact same emotional spectrum.
It's just that through life experiences and individual temperaments,
Certain areas of our inner emotional world get buried,
Repressed,
Avoided or resisted.
But absolutely everyone has all of the same emotions.
So as we begin to deeply introspect now,
Just a sense of knowing that any and all emotions are perfectly healthy.
They are all meant to be here.
So vividly defining your current emotional state,
Just be very aware,
And that is all.
Be fully present in the here and now,
And seeing if it's possible to just feel the emotion without any mind activity added.
So no narratives,
No stories.
We're not rooting around for an origin of this emotion.
We're not trying to use the mind to change,
Alter or fix the emotion.
Just feeling it.
Raw,
Pure.
The emotion just as it is now.
And a sense of welcoming this emotion.
Whichever one it is.
A sense of allowing the emotion into the space of awareness within the present.
It's allowed to be here.
And not only that,
But applying the sense and the intention that you want it to be here.
You are glad to be feeling this natural healthy emotion,
Even if it is unpleasant and painful.
It is a good sign to be able to feel.
So a sense of being glad of the presence of this emotion,
Even if we ordinarily would try to avoid it or distract ourselves from it.
Instead,
A sense of powerfully moving towards the emotion.
And saying thank you.
Thank you for being here.
You are free to be here.
You have my attention.
You have the space of my body.
You have energy now.
Giving the emotion freedom to be just as it is.
Applying an unconditional acceptance.
And be curious.
How does this emotion actually feel?
And if the current emotion wishes to shift and a different emotion you feel would be a better one to work with,
Perhaps one that you ordinarily struggle with or you have been encountering some difficulty with.
Perhaps you're trying to overcome a particularly deep sadness or fear.
Perhaps you have been trying to manage your anger,
Whether that's internal or external.
Or maybe still working through some deep sense of grief.
Whichever emotion it is that you struggle with the most,
Just bringing that one to the workbench now.
And this can be uncomfortable,
I know,
But you are perfectly safe here.
No behaviour will be arising out of this emotion,
Physically or cognitively.
Just allow the emotion to come out of its hiding place,
Onto the workbench and just feel,
Just allow.
Now,
To work with this emotion,
Practice feeling the emotion fully,
But with no added content of the mind.
Meaning no narratives,
Not searching for origins,
Not trying to change,
Alter or fix the emotion.
There will be no arguments going on in your mind about anything.
Instead,
Just open your awareness to fully feel.
Really allow.
And this open awareness just breathes air into this deeper,
Darker inner world.
Just allow it up,
Allow it out.
It's okay,
It's okay.
Pain is just pain,
That is all.
A sensation like any other.
You can handle this.
You are the awareness that is aware of the emotion.
You can handle this.
You are safe here.
You have resources.
Devote time,
Energy,
Attention to the emotion.
The deeper you can go,
The better.
The more intense and vivid you can feel this,
The better.
This is what develops emotional safety within yourself.
You can feel it and remain safe.
It's just a feeling,
Just a feeling,
Just a feeling,
Just a sensation.
I know it's challenging.
These are ancient feelings,
Deep and dark.
They have been buried for a long time and buried for a reason.
But now is the time to start turning the light of awareness towards them,
So that there can be no more hidden parts of ourselves.
You may find that the emotion is elusive.
Perhaps it keeps trying to run and hide again.
Or perhaps it keeps changing form.
Emotions can be like chameleons.
In order to escape the light of awareness,
They may change form and try to pretend to be something else.
Fear pretending to be anger.
Shame pretending to be fear.
Anger pretending to be resentment.
Resentment pretending to be grief.
There are many ways that emotions can try and hide and be elusive from us.
And just be curious about this and do not be frustrated or stressed.
If anything,
Just an amused kind of curiosity.
And a sense of appreciation for the emotion itself.
It has buried itself for a reason.
Perhaps it just wasn't safe really to feel the first time we encountered it.
But now it is safe and so it can come on out.
And it's done nothing wrong by hiding.
It did the right thing.
It needed to be obscured for a while.
Whilst you didn't have the resources to bring this emotion into the forefront of your consciousness.
But now you have the space,
You have the emotional maturity to handle any emotion.
All that's happened is you didn't have that maturity the first time you encountered this emotion.
And it probably just wasn't safe to express it for whatever reason.
But now all is well.
No behaviour will arise out of this emotion.
Instead,
Just feel it.
Something that's been here all along.
Only hiding just out of view,
Just out of sight.
And can this now be felt with no resistance?
No avoidance?
Just feel it fully.
How does it actually feel in the body?
Without a narrative,
Without words,
Without labels.
And without analysis really.
Just a pure,
Raw feeling of the emotion.
Aware of it.
And just be it.
As it is.
Neat.
Unmixed.
Allow your body to react however it needs to react.
If it needs to cry or shake,
Let it do so.
It's good,
It's good to release this.
And continue with a loving intention towards the emotion.
A sense of reassurance.
The emotion hasn't done anything wrong.
It's not shameful or bad.
It's here for a reason,
And all emotion is natural.
And to deepen the practice,
If you find you can't quite penetrate to deeper depths into this shadowy material.
You can continue with an intention of saying towards your own inner emotional world Let me see what I don't want to see.
Let me go where I don't want to go.
Let me feel what I don't want to feel.
And in saying that,
You invite these hidden parts out.
And they will feel safer and safer to come into your awareness.
And this is a beautiful,
Very healing thing.
The moment the emotion is within the awareness,
Do not flinch,
Tense up,
Or tighten up.
Just relax into the present moment.
No narratives,
No analysis.
No internal arguments,
No resistance.
Just feeling fully.
And this practice is so simple.
The beauty is the simplicity.
The more courage and confidence you can have to just feel raw,
Intense emotion,
Just as it is.
The more emotional safety you will develop.
And you will no longer suffer from your emotions.
They will just be there.
Just another thing within perception,
Within awareness.
And all will be well.
Try taking a little time each day to do this.
Even five or ten minutes in the morning is plenty.
And just beginning with a sense of what am I actually feeling now.
And then inviting anything up into the light of awareness that may be requiring a bit of attention that day.
The more profoundly you can accept and feel the entirety of an emotion,
The quicker and more radically your life will change.
Your emotional well-being will transform dramatically from this practice.
And it happens quickly.
This is tough,
It is challenging,
But phenomenally powerful.
I wish you all the best with this one.
And well done for having the courage and confidence to do this.
It is among the most challenging of all meditations.
Good luck.
Take care,
Be well,
And stay present.
