So today's practice is called Embracing Feelings and this is a very foundational part of awareness work and it teaches individuals to no longer be afraid of their own feelings and to be able to what I call head towards your feelings rather than move away from them.
So this is a very important skill to have on the way to understanding the self because what we commonly do is push feelings down,
Suppress feelings and there's all sorts of knock-on effects to that.
None of them empowering,
None of them harmonious.
So today I want to teach you how to consciously embrace feelings and this can include difficult feelings like fear,
Anxiety,
Sadness,
Grief,
Anger,
Awkwardness,
Shame.
The whole gamut of human feelings and emotions that we need to be able to feel so that these feelings can pass through us and not get stuck,
Stuck within.
So when there's a lot of these feelings stuck inside it's very problematic for us.
We feel overwhelmed,
We feel dysfunctional,
We feel afraid,
We feel unstable.
So this practice of embracing feelings teaches you how to process old feelings and current feelings and will build a skill set to be able to do that as you walk through life.
The more you can do that the more feelings can pass through you and interestingly the more you do that the more you realize that feelings are not us,
They're not our identity.
It's like when clouds pass across the Sun,
The Sun knows the clouds are not its identity and allows the clouds to pass over.
In the same way we need to learn that emotions and feelings and fear is not our ultimate identity but a feeling or an energy or a state that needs to pass by.
Because of our cultural conditioning we're often not allowing this and so when we feel a feeling we're really pushing it down hoping it will go away when in fact that actually locks it in.
So part of awareness work is this practice of learning to feel what's there and to consciously move towards the feeling.
So in a moment I will guide you in a guided visualization which you can practice every day.
Initially I would practice that lying down on a bed for a few minutes or several minutes and then as you get better at it you can go about your day and be doing this while you're doing the dishes or while you're talking to a friend even.
You can be doing it silently without anyone knowing.
This will radically increase your sense of empowerment,
Your stability and your understanding of yourself.
So lie down on the bed or somewhere comfortable or sitting up in a chair close your eyes and focus on the feelings in your body.
What is the dominant feeling you are feeling right now?
It could be exhaustion,
It could be subtle fear or anxiety,
It could be sadness,
It could be a sense of hopelessness.
Whatever the feeling is I want you to become aware of it now.
Identify it,
Name it and allow it to intensify in the body.
Let yourself feel this feeling at the bodily level.
So don't think about it anymore.
Let the mental level quieten because all of your attention should now be on the feeling of the body on the inside.
So feel where the body might be tense,
Feel where it might be sore but track the feeling level as well.
Where does this difficult feeling present?
Is it in the heart?
Is it in the throat?
Is it fluttering throughout the body?
Just become aware of it.
Use your breath to embrace the feeling.
So see if you can drop your resistance to this feeling and actually start to head towards it.
Now if the fear intensifies that's okay.
Allow the fear to intensify.
Allow yourself to feel more fear.
Allow this feeling to change in the way it wants to change.
Don't try to control it,
Just try to meet it.
Using the breath,
Deep breath in,
Deep breath out.
Allow this feeling to be there.
Just be aware of it,
Just watch it and head towards it.
Don't let it hunt you down anymore.
I want you to turn around and start to hunt it down by allowing yourself to fully feel whatever feeling is there and to stay with that feeling as it moves and changes.
There might be other layers of it.
You might feel a layer intensely and it then subsides and then you'll feel another layer gathering and growing in the body.
Just keep meeting this feeling.
Practice this for the next 20 seconds or so.
It doesn't matter what feeling is there.
All feelings are safe to feel.
No matter how intense they become,
They're safe to meet.
Even if it means you're trembling or shaking or releasing some feelings and some tears or just subtly tracking the movement of the feelings.
I want you to keep heading towards the most intense point of this feeling.
Head towards the eye of the storm and use the breath to just keep facing and being with whatever feeling is there.
Remember your job is not to change the feeling but just to meet it.
Let it change in its own time.
Keep meeting it.
Use the breath.
If there's fear there that's okay.
Feel the fear.
Meet the fear.
Fear is safe to feel.
Let yourself experience whatever's there.
It's all safe to experience and you're learning how to consciously embrace your feelings.
The more you practice this the better you will become at it and the less resistance or fear you will have towards your own feeling state.
And this is absolutely necessary in the path towards empowerment and self-understanding.
And usually at first his practice is much stronger because there's a lot more to feel that we've pushed down over our lifetime.
But the more you do it the more it can process and move through.
And like what is said in Buddhism there is only a certain amount of old suppressed feeling there.
Each time you meet a piece of it,
A layer of it,
There is that much less.
So in this way we're making great progress as we process this old feeling and reintegrate these old feelings and experiences that are often leftovers from old situations that we still carry with us.
So we really need to process them so we can come into the clarity of our present time self.
So my suggestion is that you practice this every day particularly when you're experiencing a difficult feeling whether it's fear or anxiety,
Embarrassment,
Shame,
Worry or upset of any other kind.
Take a few minutes and practice this.
And there's no right or wrong of how to do it it's just a practice.
And the more you do it the more tolerance you build towards the ability to feel your own feelings whether they be present time or old feelings.
Good luck with your practice.
I'm holding the intention for you to be able to feel all of your feelings with confidence and experience the many benefits that this will bring along the way.
Feel free to leave comments about your practice on the awareness work Instagram page.
This will inspire others and allow you to connect to the support of our flourishing community at awareness work.
