I invite you to come into a comfortable posture,
Ideally seated,
But if you have pain or discomfort in your body,
You're always welcome to lie down.
So finding a posture that you can be fairly relaxed or at ease in,
And yet also alert,
Kind of uplifted.
And then bring your attention to your breath.
And taking a few deeper breaths.
And so as you take these deeper breaths,
Just calling your attention into your body.
You might feel your abdomen,
Your belly rising and falling.
And with each exhale,
Inviting your body just to soften a little bit.
See if there's any tension that wants to melt.
And then just taking some moments just to feel the breath,
Feel the movement of your breath.
Or it might be easier for you just to let your attention settle in a sensation in your body somewhere.
And so we begin by just feeling,
Giving the sensation,
Giving the breath,
All the space that it needs,
Letting it just be.
And having a sense of resting attention with that sensation,
Not needing to change or fix.
And now I'll invite you to shift your attention,
Looking or feeling through your body.
Just noticing if there's any emotion present in this moment.
Even something a little,
You know,
Very subtle or slight,
A slight liking or not liking.
Any other feeling,
A little happiness or a little nervousness,
Just whatever is here,
Just kind of feel,
Explore.
And if,
With when you find a feeling,
An emotion,
Just letting your attention rest with this emotion,
Whatever it is,
Pleasant or unpleasant,
Positive or not so positive.
And see if you can hold that same relaxed awareness with whatever is here.
Just giving it all the space it needs to unfold,
To be,
To reveal itself,
Just to have its life.
And it might shift and change into a different feeling or emotion,
Just allowing that and being with,
Giving space.
And so the practice here,
If there's enough spaciousness or ease in the mind,
Awareness,
Just to let be,
Just to let these emotions have all the space they need,
Unfolding in their own way.
Just allowing that.
And if at any point you get distracted by a thought or thinking,
See if you can notice what's the feeling,
Tone,
Or emotion connected to or inside that thought or distraction.
So you just turn your attention to the thought or distraction itself,
But feeling for the emotional or feeling tone of the thought or distraction itself.
And then just allowing that to be and to unfold and have all the space it needs.
And we can just practice in this simple way,
Giving everything the space,
All of the feelings,
Emotions,
As they arise and shift and change,
Pass away.
And if at any point you notice an emotion that feels hard to be with,
Kind of maybe overwhelming or intense,
Too intense to just let be,
There's some contraction or resistance,
Resistance.
We can explore bringing in some support.
And one option is just bringing in an attitude of caring,
Some compassion,
Just seeing if you can kind of call into your mind a sense of compassionate presence in your own mind,
Or you might invite in a memory or being or someone who has been compassionate and kind to you and have them help you hold this emotion.
So whatever's happening in this moment,
You just might experiment with that,
Just calling to mind this kind,
Caring attitude and see if you can hold whatever you're experiencing with that kind of kindness and care,
Kind of soothing,
Comforting support.
And so this is one option to bring in a kind of love,
A self-compassion,
An attitude in your own mind,
Or like a benefactor.
And the other option to work with emotions when they feel more overwhelming or challenging to just let them be is you can bring in this sense of equanimity.
We cultivate that by just tracking the emotion and noticing how it's shifting and changing in our bodies.
So noticing if it's getting sharper,
Stronger,
Softer,
Sensations are moving around your body,
Vibrating,
Throbbing,
Just being with the emotion and really paying attention to the moment by moment shifting and changing.
Just noticing what happens as it shifts and changes.
And when it's no longer intense or overwhelming,
You can always just step back into this and just open attention,
Letting be,
Letting whatever feelings and emotions have all the space they need to unwind in their own way,
To be known and have their lives.
And remembering nothing is outside of this practice.
So if there's a distraction or your mind wanders,
Just orient to that and notice the feeling tone that's kind of connected with or inside of the thought or distraction.
And allow that,
Your attention just to hold with kindness or tracking the change and just being with that feeling.
Once I finish this practice,
I'm going to invite you to just see if you can bring to mind a positive emotion.
So you might just think about something that brought you joy or happiness the last days or week,
Maybe reflect on something you're grateful for.
Just taking a moment to bring that to mind.
You're grateful for something brought you joy or happiness,
A moment of happiness.
Bring that to mind,
Call it up as if it was happening now.
And then letting yourself also just be with this positive,
Happy emotion.
Notice how that feels in your body,
Giving it space and attention,
Savoring.
And then when you're ready,
We'll bring this practice to a close and you can stretch,
Open your eyes.
