When you are faced with a difficult emotion,
It's easy to seek ways to change how you feel,
Or to outthink the emotional experience by analyzing or explaining to yourself why you feel the way you feel,
Or to put your attention elsewhere.
Attending to your emotions with mindfulness requires patience and compassion.
By attending to your emotional experience,
You can allow yourself to feel it and to witness yourself with greater clarity.
This exercise will help you practice being with the emotion rather than pushing it away.
Start this practice when you are experiencing something difficult.
Use this meditation when you are having an emotional experience,
Such as anger or sadness,
A mental experience,
Like racing thoughts,
Or a physical experience related to your emotions,
Including anxiety or stress.
You can also use this to be with an external experience,
Like a stressful work day,
Or any other difficulty you face during your day.
When you notice that you're having a difficult moment,
Bring your awareness into the experience.
Instead of pushing the feeling or experience away,
Or resisting it,
We are going to turn into it.
Let's begin with a centering.
Adjust the way you're sitting.
Notice the floor beneath your feet and the chair or cushion as it supports you.
If you're walking,
Notice the earth move under your feet.
And whether you're walking or seated,
Allow yourself to slow down a bit.
Slow down.
Take a nice long inhale and pause.
And then take a nice long exhale.
Again,
Pause.
Repeat this for a few rounds of breath.
Now bring your attention to the experience of the emotion or situation.
Try to put aside the trigger or event that is causing the situation.
This is not the time to evaluate the situation.
This is the time to notice how you feel.
What do you feel?
Notice what you feel with curiosity and gentleness,
With appreciation and acceptance.
It is okay to feel what you feel.
How do you experience this feeling in your body?
Notice if there is a heaviness or a burning or a lightheadedness.
Notice how you experience this feeling and notice where you experience this feeling.
Maybe you feel sensation in your chest or your stomach or even slightly outside of yourself.
Anchor yourself with the physical feeling of the floor,
Chair or earth as you pause and notice how and where you experience this feeling.
You might wish to place your hands over your heart.
Here,
Breathe into your hands.
Repeat quietly to yourself,
It's okay to feel what I feel.
It is safe for me to feel.
I feel,
And insert the word that you're feeling such as I feel sad and that is okay.
I accept my feelings.
Repeat quietly to yourself,
I am feeling what I am feeling and that's okay.
If you need to come out of this meditation because your feelings are very strong,
That is okay.
But for now,
Try to stay with the feeling.
Breathing in,
It is safe for me to feel.
Breathing out,
It's okay to feel what I feel.
It is safe for me to feel.
It's okay for me to feel.
You will stay here for just under one minute.
Continue to notice the experience of your feeling.
What do you feel?
And where do you feel it?
And if you're not sure what you're feeling,
Notice that.
Now,
If you haven't already,
Place your hands on your heart.
Try to place your thoughts aside and repeat quietly to yourself,
I have just experienced a moment of emotional pain or discomfort or difficulty.
I have just experienced this emotional moment.
I cannot avoid all pain in my life.
I lovingly do my best to accept my feelings.
Replace your hands to your lap.
Again,
Take a deep breath in and a long breath out.
Repeat.
Long breath in.
Pause.
Long breath out.
Now allow your breath to come back to natural.
Flutter your eyes open and again,
Acknowledge yourself for allowing yourself to feel.
May you move forward in grace.
If you wish to practice art-based mindfulness,
Take a moment to draw or doodle your experience of the feeling.
I recommend that you keep the drawing small,
Especially if the feeling is strong,
About the size of a post-it.
You can draw a box or a circle and this will literally help to contain the emotion.
In that box or circle,
Use line and shape to create the experience of the feeling.
If you're feeling angry,
Perhaps the lines are jagged or pointy.
If you're feeling sad,
Perhaps the colors are dark or muddled.
Select line and color in a way that feels relevant to you.
Take just 2-5 minutes to create a doodle or drawing.
You might also draw a stick figure and create marks to represent where you experience this feeling in your body.
When you're done,
Take a moment to journal with the image.
Perhaps you write a paragraph or a few sentences to summarize and then ask the image,
What wisdom do you have to share?
Let the image answer for you.
You can ask it,
What specific steps can I take to attend to you,
This feeling?
Again,
Let it answer.
Let yourself write freely or with stream of consciousness,
Without judgment.
I highly recommend you try doing this with your non-dominant hand.
It will feel awkward at first,
But you might be surprised what your image has to share.
Namaste.
