Welcome to this guided mindfulness exercise to support you in building emotional intelligence.
I'm your guide,
Dorsey Standish.
In this practice,
We'll use the skill of interoception,
Or sensing internal body sensations,
To help us gain insight into how we are feeling in this moment.
Go ahead and let your gaze soften down,
Or perhaps close your eyes all the way.
Begin to become aware of your breathing,
Maybe feeling the chest and the belly rise with the inhale,
And those areas of the body fall and soften with the exhale.
As you continue to breathe deeply,
You might notice the feeling of the feet on the floor,
Noticing any sensations there,
And connecting with a sense of grounding and support in your feet.
Now bringing to mind the question of how am I feeling,
As we begin to explore the feeling line of the body,
Or the center line of the body through the throat,
Chest,
And belly area.
We'll begin to explore how we're feeling by paying close attention to any sensations in the throat.
Feeling into the throat,
Noticing sensations,
Tingling,
Pressure,
Tension,
Energy,
Openness,
And then feeling down into the center of your chest,
Noticing sensations here.
Does the chest feel tight and tense?
Does it feel open and expansive?
Maybe even noticing the temperature of the sensations,
The color of the sensations.
Bringing the same curious awareness into your upper and lower belly,
Checking in with any sensations here in the center line of the body.
Feeling the center line as a whole,
Sensing all the way from the throat,
Right down through the chest,
Into the belly,
And letting go of judgment,
Or even labels.
See if you can feel into your center,
And let your breath flow in and out.
As you breathe and sense this center line,
Some areas might feel soft and comfortable.
Others might feel tight and uncomfortable,
Or even shaky and vulnerable.
Maybe some areas have very little feeling,
They might even seem numb or empty.
Remembering that there is no need to analyze,
Just spending a few more moments here,
Breathing into and feeling into your sensitive center,
Observing what's arising.
From this place of awareness and insight into how you're feeling,
You might pause and ask yourself.
You can even place a hand on your heart,
Or another aspect of your center line,
And check in with how you're feeling right now.
What do you need?
How can you support yourself in this moment?
Becoming aware of any small actions,
Even words you might share with yourself,
To best support you given how you're feeling.
And as you're ready,
Begin to deepen your breath,
Maybe offering yourself a small smile as a thank you for pausing.
And as you breathe deeply,
Begin to reorient your attention externally,
Feeling the places your body meets the support beneath you,
Noticing any sounds around you,
And slowly raising your gaze.
Thank you so much for your practice.
Wishing you many more moments of feeling into how you are and acting to support yourself.
