Staying With Difficult Emotion

In this practice, Davin guides the listener through an exercise that involves noticing and labeling sensations and emotions without judgement. It is accompanied by a transformational sound meditation created with only his voice.

Transcript

Hey again,

It's Davin.

Thanks for joining me for this guided sound meditation for staying with difficult emotions.

I'm a teacher and a singer and I'll be holding space for you during this practice with my voice,

Both in spoken word and singing.

There's a good chance you've chosen this practice because,

Like me,

Your life hasn't always been easy.

In fact,

There were probably times when you suffered a great deal and with that suffering came difficult emotion.

Emotion is an important part of our lives,

Isn't it?

It's how we measure the quality and the meaning of our experience,

But at times it can become overwhelming.

While joy and happiness can be quite lovely in this way,

Feeling sadness and fear and frustration,

Guilt,

Shame,

You name it,

Often we want nothing more than to escape.

And so we scroll our phone endlessly or eat too much or even lean into relationships that we know somehow diminish who we are,

All in an effort to avoid what we really feel.

But ignoring difficult emotion,

It only assures a re-emergence later on,

Maybe resulting in an unexpected outburst,

The compromise of a more important relationship,

Or even complications in our health.

But the good news is there is an alternative path.

My friend,

No singular emotion or experience defines who you are.

While it may feel that way in any given moment,

Whatever you are feeling is one of many small stars in the complex constellation of you.

Rather than running from star to star or feeling to feeling,

It can be helpful to get curious and make a map of it all.

We can do that by learning to notice our emotions,

Naming them,

And staying with them.

This may be challenging at first,

But as you continue the practice you will find yourself defanging old beasts and developing the capacity to offer yourself more love,

Patience,

And compassion.

So if you're ready,

Let's give it a try.

Go ahead and find an easy seat or posture,

Either sitting up or lying down,

Whatever you think you can comfortably sustain for the length of our practice.

Once you find yourself there,

Bring your eyes to a soft gaze or you can shut them altogether.

Be aware that you are breathing.

There's no need to do anything particular with the breath,

But just notice the rise and the fall of the air entering and leaving your body.

Now bring your focus to your body,

Keeping track of any outstanding sensations that grab your attention.

This might be a hair on your forehead,

Your clothing on your skin,

Or even a sudden itch.

If you can keep your awareness on any given sensation,

Ask yourself if it is pleasant or unpleasant.

This is a label that can be applied without judgment.

It's kind of like looking around a room and seeing a chair and saying to yourself,

Chair,

It's neither bad nor good,

It just is.

With that in mind,

Consider a difficult situation in your life.

It might be good to start with something quite mild and it could be recent or even from the distant past.

Just start with whatever feels at the ready.

As the situation comes into focus,

Notice any emotions that arise within you.

Anger,

Sadness,

Frustration,

Whatever it is just like the itch or the chair,

Give it a name.

This is anger,

This is sadness,

And once you name it,

Say to yourself,

It's okay to feel this.

This is sadness,

It's okay to feel this.

This is anger,

It's okay to feel this.

You may notice that when emotions arise,

Sensations also occur within the body.

This is the gift of the body.

The body has an incredible way of reminding us of the truth of our experiences.

Whether it be tightness in the chest,

A pit in your stomach,

Or shortness of breath,

Simply notice it,

Name it,

And remind yourself it's okay to feel this.

Continue to explore whatever emotion arises from this situation or move on to another.

Ask yourself what it means to stay with the emotion,

Always offering the reminder it's okay to feel this.

Continue to explore whatever emotion arises from this situation or move on to another.

Ask yourself what it means to stay with the emotion,

Always offering When you're ready,

Release the practice and just rest in the residue of your effort.

When you're ready,

Release the practice and just rest in the residue of your effort.

Whenever feels right,

Go ahead and open your eyes.

Take in the space around you.

Remember,

Difficult emotions will continue to make their way into your life.

It's a challenging and wonderful part of the human experience.

While it can be tempting to try and ignore or suppress,

The path beyond is always through.

Your story is so much bigger than any singular emotion,

So why not get to know the many pieces that create the whole of you.

Thank you so much for practicing with me.

Peace.

Reviews

Simple and meaningful to hold my fear and sadness without pushing it away.

Not one of my favourite things to do... feeling difficult emotions. 🤫
But you offer a kind of safe space with your voice, your music for me, in which I succeeded to have a look on the sunless sides of life. It has the soothing effect as if a good friend is nearby. 🙏

Wow! Bookmarked for later. Unexpectedly strong visceral response as I entered the meditation that was very hard to stay with, but I did.

Thank you for creating a beautiful, sacred space with this meditation.

Wished I had discovered this practice a few yrs ago when I was going through grief. 🙏 This is a timeless practice, for all emotions.

I felt so much more relaxed after listening to this thank you

This is very beautiful. Familiar distractions were symbiotically described here as motions away from difficult emotions. The stored feelings erupting now are from deep trauma wounding, so distinct they wipe free all logic. Utterly terrifying. Thankyou for the support of your words and music. A whole constellation we be.

This was ~exactly what I needed. I’ve tried so hard to find a meditation that actually helps me feel better and work through what’s going on. Almost everything I’ve found tries to shift your focus away from the pain and dismiss it. Tell you it’s somehow your fault. It’s not. Thank you SO much.

Thanks for sharing this self conscience experience! It was wonderful! Namastê! 🙏🌻💖

Wow. Very powerful and deeply emotional. One to visit regularly at the moment. Many thanks 🙏💚🙏

This meditation allowed me to quickly touch in on some deep grief I've been burying and begin the releasing process. There is so much below the surface. Beautiful and cathartic. Thank you!

Who’s cutting onions?

It’s funny, I knew I was feeling off today but I wasn’t quite able to pinpoint why. Doing this meditation I was naturally drawn to a recent situation and when I acknowledged the emotions I was feeling (sadness and guilt) I spontaneously started crying and couldn’t stop... I felt much better afterwards, as if they were feelings I had unknowingly suppressed - so thank you 🙏🏻

So amazing... This really helped me, and look forward to keep practicing it. Thanks! 🙏💚

Thank you Davin for sharing your compassion and wisdom. Discovering your work is truly a gift to me. Sending you gratitude and appreciation 💛

This is a perfect practice on how to feel your emotions, allow them, know they are normal, and therefore being able to release them in a healthy way. I also have to mention the music was so beautiful. Thank you. 🙏🏼

Thank you for the gift of acceptance. Your voice and words were a light in an otherwise difficult day.

I quickly felt a softening & ease, I will use this again as I learn to acknowledge my feelings & honour them. Beautiful practice ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨🙏🏻

Thank you Davin, that was lovely.
I found you in your live session today. I’m looking forward to listening more of your music and meditations.
Do you have a circle?

Love and gratitude, Sunni (in Australia) 🌻🥰🙏

Just WOW! Thank you. I rarely leave reviews for anything on any app. This is an absolute gem. Thank you.

I really enjoyed and you are so on point. You can tell you’ve been through the journey of ups and downs.