We have a beautiful meditation today.
Today's meditation will be exploring different sensations in the body,
Different effects of emotions,
Of breathing.
And we'll start to know and notice within our own body.
As we explore during this meditation,
The importance of observation and starting to notice that the effects of our emotions and the effects of our breathing are quite profound in the body,
In our mental state.
During this meditation today,
We'll explore different emotions and their effects in the body and finding that the power when we have an emotion instead of focusing on the stimulus,
What stimulated our anger,
That person made me angry.
If we can start to focus on the sensations in the body,
We can start to notice the fleeting nature of every emotion.
We can start to notice the impermanence of emotions and the constant change and fluctuation of the very subtle experience of sensations in the body.
They say that emotions only last for about a minute and a half in the body on a chemical level.
But what continues emotions moving and coming up and over and over again is focusing on that stimulation,
What stimulated it.
When we focus in the mind on the experience that causes anger,
Then we get another dose of anger delivered from the brain to the body.
So today's practice will be to get out of the head and into the body.
And what does that mean to feel the sensations occurring when we have an emotion can give us clarity on the emotion can help us recognize I'm feeling anger right now I felt this before and to locate where in the body we feel it.
Perhaps anxiety is more in the chest,
Perhaps joy is more openness around the shoulders.
There will be a very big difference that you can feel.
So we'll start with the effects of different types of breath on our nervous system.
And then we'll work into emotions.
So let's roll the shoulders back and sit up tall,
The spine lengthens and perhaps we put a pillow or something supporting the sit bones so that our hips come above our knees.
We can close down the eyes,
Slightly tuck the chin and allow the breath to elongate and start to notice a more subtle vibration happening in the body.
As the breath deepens our mind calm,
Perhaps.
Our first exercise will be a square breath.
So we inhale for five seconds,
Hold for five seconds,
Exhale for five,
Hold for five.
And I'll cue the first round,
We'll do it together and then I'll let you go on your own for a few rounds.
And start to notice as you slowly breathe and evenly breathe,
What that does to the sensations in your body.
Let's take a deep inhale and exhale before we start inhaling,
Releasing.
And our next inhale is for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Holding for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Exhaling 5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Pause 5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Continue on your own time,
Five second inhale.
Notice the belly expanding,
Allowing the breath to come in through the belly and the back body.
Noticing the effect on the ribs and the shoulders as the breath ripples throughout the body.
Perhaps you notice a subtle difference between the inhale and the exhale and the effects on the body.
Sometimes you have a preference.
If at any point you feel any stress or anxiety,
You can leave the structure if you need to and breathe however feels good.
Noticing on the hold at the top and the bottom.
Also quietness comes and flushes out the mind.
Noticing the evenness of breath.
And finishing whichever cycle you are on with a pause at the exhale.
Whenever you finish,
You can start to breathe normally.
And take a moment to observe the body.
Perhaps there's somewhere you feel more sensation,
Somewhere you may feel less.
We'll move from this exercise to another exercise and just notice the effect on the body.
So for this next exercise,
We'll take a very shallow inhales and exhales.
Inhale exhale,
Inhale exhale,
Very quick.
We'll do about 50 of those.
So when you're ready,
Take a deep inhale exhale.
And very quickly inhale exhale.
15 more.
14,
13,
12,
11,
10,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Pause deep inhale exhale.
And just notice,
Dive into the body,
Allow your mind to drop into the body.
What are you feeling?
Perhaps there's sensation in the extremities,
A warmth.
Perhaps any anxiety or fear comes up.
Sensations in the chest cavity.
You're just noticing the difference to only a few moments ago in our square breathing.
The effect of the breath on the body,
Our mind space.
Deepening the breath once again.
And arriving back into our bodies.
For our next exercise,
We'll explore the idea of emotion,
How emotions affect the body.
And we'll start with the emotion of anxiety.
So I want you now to imagine a situation that might be giving you anxiety that's happened in the recent past,
Perhaps a test coming up or speaking in front of people or having a confronting conversation with somebody that you've been meaning to talk to.
See if you can replay that situation.
Speaking in front of people or being vulnerable,
This intense anxiety might come up.
Maybe you can imagine you're sitting in a circle and your turn to speak is about to come up.
And see if you can tap into that experience.
And the second you feel the anxiety drop into the body and see if you can identify where you're feeling and what it feels like a tightness,
A contraction and openness,
Whatever you may be feeling.
Breathing over and over again as the emotion dissipates.
Come back into the mind and imagine whatever situation or experience may be giving you anxiety.
Take the next few moments to explore that back and forth,
Pinpointing where it is in the body,
It'll start to dissipate back into the mind,
Replay it again.
Enjoy and play.
Where do you feel the anxiety?
Your legs and your stomach and your arms?
What changes?
Taking just a few more moments to explore.
What muscles can contract?
Releasing,
Releasing any thoughts or any ideas,
Any emotions,
Deep breath in.
Release the anxiety.
Maybe give a little shake,
Shake the arms,
Shake the shoulders,
Maybe shake the head and deep inhale.
We make noise as we exhale.
Let the emotion pass.
And just sit stillness,
Sit in stillness.
And notice the effect on the body,
The effect of our thoughts on our body,
On the cells in our body.
Taking a deep inhale and exhale.
We'll move to our final emotion.
I want you to imagine love and experience or person that brings you love.
Maybe a parent or sibling or friend just smiling.
All of a sudden,
Overwhelming experience of love may pour into your body and the moment you recognize the physical sensation,
Drop the thought and enter the body.
Where am I feeling love?
What does it feel like in my body to have love?
Is it warm?
Does it spread?
Is it like a blanket?
Does it wrap around my arms or heart?
Is there expansion or contraction?
And as it dissipates,
Come back into the head and imagine that person again smiling at you.
Deeply in love.
Exploring the thought and then the sensations in the body as an emotion.
Maybe your posture changes.
Noticing your body's innate reaction,
Innate response to this emotion of love,
This biological response that the body has.
Can you feel it?
Just there.
Let's slowly distance ourselves from this beautiful love.
I'll take a deep inhale,
Exhale.
And I would say that we should shake this one out,
But maybe we keep this for the day.
This is a beautiful place to end our meditation.
So with that love,
Let's sit up tall.
Perhaps a smile wraps around the face.
And just notice the power of our thoughts and the relationship of our thoughts to our body.
Notice the power of observing the body that every time we start to drop into the body to notice the emotion,
It disappears.
This is a very powerful tool of observation where our attention goes,
Energy flows.
Does it go to the body?
Does it go to the mind?
Does it go to our loved ones?
Does it go to our health?
Use this tool of awareness,
Of attention,
Of observation to create a garden of Eden for ourselves,
What we focus on grows,
What we focus on blooms.
And to share a short story as we finish.
My grandfather was telling his grandson a story that there are two wolves.
They were fighting each other one day,
A white wolf and a black wolf roaming in the forest and they catch each other's eye and they run toward each other and start fighting and fighting this vicious fight.
After many hours of battling,
The grandson asks the grandfather,
Who will win,
Grandfather?
And the grandfather says,
Whichever wolf you feed.
For when we choose to just feed one of these wolves,
We lose our balance.
We lose our grounding.
That both wolves are important.
And that ultimately,
If we feed them both,
If we give them both space and both love,
Then we find our balance.
We find our center.
Today's meditation was about exploring our emotions,
Our sensations.
There is no good.
There is no bad.
There just is.
May you be loved.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
Namaste.
