The following exercise by Lue Lasbergado is designed to build our capacity to experience emotions and bodily sensations without being overwhelmed or pushed around by them.
In other words,
It's to get better at feeling rather than to simply feel better.
This enables us to be more fully present and make more effective choices in our lives.
Find a relatively comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down if preferred,
Where you can be undisturbed for the next ten or so minutes.
With your eyes softly closed or remaining open if desired,
For the next few breaths,
See if you can emphasize a long,
Slow exhale,
Breathing out through what we call pursed lips,
And then allowing the inhale through either your nose or your mouth to naturally follow that long exhale.
Doing so may help you transition to the rest of the exercise and drop anchor into the here and now.
As your breathing finds its own rate and rhythm,
I'm going to invite you to adopt a curious,
Friendly,
And open stance to whatever you may discover in your body as we move through this meditation.
Take a moment to scan your body from head to toe on the lookout for any uncomfortable or unpleasant feelings,
Which can include emotions such as fear,
Sadness,
Shame,
Or anger,
As well as bodily sensations such as physical tension or pain.
Now,
Your mind might naturally resist becoming aware of and making contact with such feelings.
It might advise you to avoid or disconnect or label them as bad or negative,
Or simply just distract you with other thoughts that pull you out of the exercise,
All of which is your mind's attempt to keep you safe.
And yet doing so cuts us off from much of what matters in our lives.
So as long as it's within your window of tolerance,
See if you can willingly stay with any painful or difficult experiences.
And if at any point you need a breather,
You can slow down your breathing with a few long exhales and then come back to the guided part of the exercise when ready.
Briefly scanning your body again,
I'll invite you to choose a feeling to focus on for the next few moments,
Ideally one that's particularly uncomfortable,
Though it could be any emotion or sensation you're experiencing,
Even numbness.
And then zoom in to get to know the feeling a bit better in a curious,
Friendly,
And open manner.
Notice if it has a sharpness or a dullness to it,
Whether it has any distinguishing features such as pressure,
Tightness,
Or heaviness,
Or even emptiness.
Notice if it seems to be more on the surface of your body or if it has multiple layers to it and goes deeper within.
Notice if it's moving or still,
And whether there's any vibrating,
Tingling,
Throbbing,
Pulsating.
Notice if it has a temperature to it.
Does it seem warm,
Cool,
Hot,
Cold,
Neutral?
If you were to draw an outline around it,
How big would it be and what shape would it take?
If you were to give the feeling a color,
What would it look like?
Now,
Our objective is not to change the feeling,
Despite any secret agenda your mind might have.
Rather,
Our aim is to get to know it with curiosity and openness and allow it to be just as it is.
It might increase or decrease in intensity.
It might move and pop up elsewhere in your body or leave altogether.
Whatever happens,
See if you can stay receptively present and become aware that you're noticing this feeling.
There's the feeling and there's you observing it.
If your mind resumes a struggle with it at any point or pulls you away from the exercise,
Gently acknowledge that this has occurred and come back to holding the feeling in awareness.
Now,
For the next few breaths,
See if you can breathe into the feeling as if your breath is flowing to that part of your body so that when you breathe in,
A space opens up inside of you to make room for that feeling.
Once again,
For the next few breaths,
Practice breathing into the feeling,
Making room for it to be there just as it is.
And as you breathe out,
See if you can let go of any tension your body might be holding around the feeling as our bodies tend to tense up around painful feelings,
Once again as a means of protection.
And yet,
Doing so over time has its costs.
So breathe into the feeling,
Make room for it to be there just as it is,
While giving your body permission to let go as you breathe out.
As we move towards the close of this exercise,
Begin expanding your awareness to the rest of your body.
So we've been focusing attention on this one feeling,
And now you're expanding your awareness to include the rest of your body,
Such as your arms and legs,
Your hands and feet,
Your head,
Also notice what you have physical contact with in your surroundings.
There's that feeling,
There's the rest of your body,
And then there's your body's contact with the surroundings.
Expanding your awareness even further,
Notice what you can hear.
Opening your eyes if they're not already open,
Noticing what you can see.
And once again,
There's that feeling you were just zooming in on,
And then there's the rest of your body,
And what you can touch,
Hear,
See,
Taste,
And smell.
And finally,
You may choose to stretch a bit as you reorient to the rest of your day.
