This is a session for you to use when you are feeling overwhelmed,
Stressed by any kind of circumstance in your life.
It's based on clearing a space,
Which is a technique that Jean Genlin developed with focusing to make it possible to have space inside,
Uncluttered by day-to-day concerns in order to do focusing.
So take a moment to make yourself comfortable,
Whatever you're seated in,
Settle into it so that the furniture is holding all your weight and you're as comfortable as you can be.
Take another moment to scan your body and just begin to notice how you are right now.
You can do a quick scan from feet to head,
Noticing any sensations and just allowing them to be.
Now this is the time to open up the space inside,
Imagining that when you drop your attention down inside,
The space is huge,
Big enough to hold anything that's happening in your life and even hold it at a little distance from central so that you can observe it without it being right in your face.
And while you're noticing what comes,
You might ask yourself the question,
What's between me and being perfectly fine?
And in a state of overwhelm,
Something will certainly come quickly.
When it does,
Acknowledge it.
You might even say what it is.
Oh,
It's that about this,
But keep it short.
Don't go into it.
You might notice an emotional quality that it has and name it.
Oh,
It's about this and it has an anxious feel to it.
And then take that something and imagine that you can set it aside in some way that resonates with your body.
It might be on a park bench next to you where you're sitting on a sunny day,
Or it might be a little distance from you on a beach where you're sitting,
Whatever your imagination brings for you as the spatial reference.
I like to take those things and imagine that they're cardboard and fold them neatly and put them in a box next to me.
And then ask yourself again,
Besides that,
What's between me and being perfectly fine?
And again,
Give it a name,
Name its emotional quality,
But don't go into it.
Don't spend time with it.
Just notice it in that way and set it aside and ask yourself again,
Besides all that,
What's between me and being perfectly fine?
You can pause the recording now and continue to ask yourself that question until everything that wants to come has made itself known and been set aside by you.
So I'll stop here.
You can pause the recording and continue when you're ready.
Now that you've cleared the space inside of you with the question,
What's between me and being perfectly fine and everything that wants your attention has come,
Been acknowledged and been set aside,
You are perfectly fine in this moment.
So take the time to breathe,
To relax into the possibility of being perfectly fine even when life can give us the feeling of overwhelm.
You can use this exercise anytime you're feeling anxious or you can use it as a routine entry into a longer focusing session.
Thank you for listening.
