Symptoms As Teachers: Creating Your Emotional Stop Sign

This guided imagery meditation and art prompt invites you to meet symptoms or behavior patterns as imperative messengers for inward reflection. Through grounding, somatic awareness, creativity and journaling, you’ll explore how symptoms may be asking you to "stop" for pause, care, and attention.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided meditation and art prompt,

Which invites you to listen and learn from what your patterns and behaviors are trying to tell you.

This practice begins with grounding and centering through breath and body awareness,

Followed by a gentle inquiry into the unwanted symptoms or patterns that are showing up in your life.

I will then guide you into an art prompt to create a visual stop sign,

This as an invitation to pause and to listen to what those patterns are really trying to teach.

Let us begin.

First,

Find a comfortable seat.

You may be in a chair with your feet flat on the floor or on a cushion with your legs crossed,

Whatever allows your body to feel supported.

Let your hands rest where they're comfortable.

This could be on your knees or in your lap,

With the palms facing up or down.

You may also close your eyes if that feels comfortable,

Or soften your gaze downward.

Now notice the breath.

Notice the natural rhythm of the inhale and exhale.

Without trying to change the breath,

Just notice it.

Notice if you're breathing lightly or deeply.

Notice if the breath comes only to the collarbones,

Or does it move into the heart space?

Begin now to breathe into the heart space if you are not already.

Notice the sense of expansion on the inhale,

Then pause,

And then exhale.

Again,

Pausing.

Continue this for a few rounds of breath.

As you continue breathing naturally,

I invite you to bring your awareness now to the body.

Start with the crown of your head.

Notice any sensation there.

Perhaps tension,

Ease,

Warmth,

Coolness,

Or tingling.

Just notice.

Bring your awareness to your face,

Your forehead,

The space between your eyebrows,

And your jaw.

Notice if you're holding tension in the face,

And if you are,

See if you can soften just a little.

Move your awareness now to your neck and shoulders.

This is where many of us carry the weight of the world.

So just notice what's here.

No need to change it.

Just notice.

Bring your awareness now to your chest,

Your heart space.

Notice your heartbeat if you can.

Notice the rise and fall of your breath.

And now move your awareness down to the belly.

Notice if it's tight or soft.

Notice if you're breathing into this space or holding it.

And now bring awareness to your hips and pelvis.

Notice where your body makes contact with the chair or cushion beneath you,

And feel the support there.

Move down through your legs.

Notice your thighs,

Your knees,

Your calves,

Your ankles,

All the way down to your feet.

Notice where your feet or legs make contact with the chair or ground,

And feel the earth beneath you.

Now take a full breath in,

Noticing your whole body.

As you exhale,

Imagine releasing tension.

From the crown of your head to the soles of your feet,

Take another deep breath in.

Just notice what's here in this moment,

And then exhale,

Noticing stillness and release.

Continue for a few more rounds of breath.

As you allow the breath now to come back to natural,

I invite you to consider a pattern or behavior that feels problematic to you,

Something you've been trying to control,

Curb,

Or change.

Maybe it's reaching for sugar or caffeine at certain times,

Scrolling on your phone when you're anxious,

Overworking when you're stressed.

It might be withdrawing when you're overwhelmed,

Or perfectionism that keeps you stuck.

This could be any habit that feels like it has power over you.

Try not to attach judgment,

Just let this surface gently to the mind.

Now notice,

Do you feel this pattern in your body?

Does it show up as tension somewhere,

Such as tightness in your chest or a knot in your stomach,

Perhaps heaviness in the shoulders?

Maybe there's a sensation of restlessness or urgency,

A pull or a craving.

Just notice where this pattern lives in your body,

And maybe it doesn't.

There is no right or wrong here.

This is simply a practice of checking in,

Noticing your experience,

All without judgment.

Now,

Instead of trying to push this pattern away or fix it,

I invite you to get curious about it.

Imagine this pattern as a messenger.

It's showing up to tell you something.

In fact,

Imagine this pattern as a stop sign.

Imagine it is your system's way of saying,

Pay attention,

Listen inward.

Imagine this pattern or behavior as a stop sign and ask yourself,

When does this pattern show up?

What time of day?

What circumstances?

What emotions are present?

Again,

Notice and let answers come without forcing them.

Now consider,

What is this pattern really trying to give you?

What is it trying to provide?

For example,

Is it trying to give you comfort or control or a sense of autonomy?

What is trying to be served here?

Do you need a break,

Permission to feel something,

Rest?

Just let yourself be curious.

What if this pattern is trying to take care of you in some way?

And now,

A deeper question.

What does your body or mind really need in these moments?

Not the behavior itself,

But what you're actually hungry for underneath it.

Maybe the sugar isn't about sugar.

Maybe it's about wanting something decadent,

Something that feels like choice in a life that feels overscheduled.

Maybe the scrolling isn't about distraction.

Maybe it's about needing a pause,

A moment of rest your body is asking for.

Maybe the overwork is not about productivity.

Maybe it's about needing to feel valuable or avoiding something you're trying to or afraid to feel.

What is your body and your really asking for?

Lastly,

If this pattern could speak to you,

What would it say?

Listen,

Not with your thinking mind,

But with your body and with your heart.

What message is this pattern carrying for you?

Take in one more deep breath.

And as you exhale,

Thank this pattern for trying to take care of you,

Even if it's not the way you would choose to be cared for.

And then thank it for showing up,

For getting your attention,

For asking you to listen.

Yes,

Thank it.

As we continue now into the art prompt,

Take a moment to connect with your breath.

Bring some gentle movement to your fingers and toes.

If your eyes are closed,

You can gently flutter them open.

And as you return to the space around you,

I invite you to give form to what you just discovered.

Today's art prompt is to create a stop sign,

Not as a pause,

But as a reminder or punishment or a stop doing sign,

But as an invitation and a reminder into pause and reflection.

You may use any preferred materials here and then create a visual stop sign that represents the pattern or patterns you've been exploring.

This can be literal,

A red octagon with the word stop,

Or it could be abstract colors,

Shapes,

Or symbols that represent what this pattern is asking you to pause.

Maybe it's a visual representation of an emotion or energy that you experience when you're triggered.

As you create,

Imagine the stop sign,

Not as judgment,

But as messenger.

It's saying,

Stop,

Pay attention.

What is really going on for you?

So make it bold,

Make it visible,

Make it honest.

There is no right or wrong or best way to do this.

Just let your hands move.

Take as much time as you need in creating your stop sign.

Let it emerge naturally.

And when you feel complete,

Sit with what you've created.

Just witness it.

No judgment,

Just presence.

And then we will move on to journaling.

You may wish to pause this recording while you work and return to it for the guided journal prompts.

When you feel complete with your image,

Consider these questions.

When does this pattern show up?

What time of day?

What circumstances?

What emotions are present?

What is this pattern really trying to give you?

Is it comfort or control or autonomy,

Rest,

Permission?

What does your body or mind really need in those moments?

And if this pattern could speak to you,

What would it say?

Write freely using stream of consciousness.

Let yourself be honest.

Let yourself be surprised.

This is not about fixing the behavior today.

It is about understanding what it's trying to tell you.

Here are those questions again.

It is not necessary to answer each and every one of them,

But just let these be a guide for your contemplation.

When does this pattern show up?

Again,

What time of day?

What circumstances?

What emotions are present?

What is this pattern really trying to give you?

Is it something like comfort or control or autonomy,

Rest or permission?

What does your body or mind really need in those moments?

And if this pattern could speak to you,

What would it say?

You may wish to pause this track while you write or continue this track as I have just a few closing thoughts to share.

Remember,

Your patterns are teachers.

Your symptoms are stop signs.

They're asking you to pause and listen.

And when you listen,

When you really listen,

Everything can shift.

Thank you for taking this time today to listen inward.

Thank you for being willing to see your patterns not as enemies,

But as teachers.

Your struggles are not mistakes.

They are not failures.

They might be the greatest teachers you'll ever have.

And when you learn to listen to them,

When you learn to welcome them as messengers,

You learn to live more truth than you ever imagined.

May you listen well.

May you trust what you hear.

May you live in truth.

The goodness in me honors the goodness in you.