At times of great emotional turmoil,
We often forget to or don't have time to or perhaps don't want to feel all of our emotions.
And when we do this,
When we don't allow our emotion to flow,
Our energy in motion to flow,
We wind up feeling exhausted,
Despondent,
Depressed.
And so this is perhaps for me the most important practice,
A practice of emotional digestion.
It allows us to be fully present with and allow our emotions to flow without getting caught up in the story that can cause those emotions to get stuck.
So I would encourage you to do this every day.
It's only a five or ten minute practice.
Firstly,
Find a comfortable spot to lie down or recline.
Maybe it's on a couch or on the floor,
On a mat,
On a carpet.
Maybe you've got your legs raised.
Or a pillow under your knees.
And just let your hands come to rest,
One on your belly and one over your heart.
Just take a deep breath.
And on the out breath,
Allow your body to sink into the floor or the couch.
Another breath,
Just letting the body become heavy and feeling your weight being held.
In your mind's eye,
Scan through the day.
And when you come across a moment of charged emotion,
Allow yourself to notice the physical properties of that charge.
Where in your body do you feel it most clearly?
Maybe it's in your chest,
Maybe in your belly.
Maybe it's in your throat or your head or your toes.
Just scan the body and notice where the physical manifestation of this emotion is the strongest.
Allow yourself to be fully present to the physical sensation.
What does it feel like?
Get curious.
Is it strong,
Heavy or light?
Is it fast or does it feel slow?
If it were a colour,
What colour would it be?
What texture does it have?
Maybe it feels like a spiky sensation or a spongy sensation.
Allow yourself to fully feel the physical sensation.
Notice any thoughts that arise.
Allow them to move past you.
Just watch them like you're watching a waterfall from behind the waterfall rushing past you or a leaf floating along the river and go back to the physical sensation.
What's changed?
What colour is it now?
How is the velocity or direction changed?
How is the temperature changed?
On a scale of 1 to 10,
How intense is it now?
Notice how if you allow it,
Emotion is never static.
It's never stuck.
It's constantly moving and changing.
If the emotion starts to feel overwhelming,
Just back off for a moment.
Take a deep breath.
In and out.
Focus on the breath and when you're ready,
Go back to that charged moment.
Get curious again.
See what's still left in your body.
Is it heavy or light?
Fast or slow?
Somewhere in between?
Hot or cold?
What's the colour?
What's the texture?
Again,
Get really present to the physical sensations associated with the emotion.
That's really all emotion is.
Electrochemical signals moving through your body,
Positively or negatively valenced,
Sending information around your body.
The stories are just mind stuff.
Your brain spins up around it.
Just allow them to be there.
Allow them to pass by you and get present with the physical sensation of the emotion in your body.
Again.
Continue to do this for as long as there's charge in this moment and then continue to scan through your day in your mind's eye for any other charged moments,
Whether they be positive or negative.
Often we don't allow ourselves to fully process the joys of life either.
Allow yourself to fully feel those moments of joy,
Of gratitude,
Of awe and wonder,
Of love,
As well as those moments of pain and sadness and loss.
For freedom is all about being able to be truly present to reality,
To whatever is going on in any moment.
