Feel To Heal

In this short talk and meditation, Lou will help you create inner spaciousness so you can mindfully work with challenging sensations and emotions. By allowing ourselves to feel our feelings, we open up space for healing energy to move through.

Transcript

Let's talk about what we're going to be practicing today.

And I'll share a little bit first of how this practice came to be and really the inspiration for me wanting to offer this on here.

So as I had kind of alluded to,

I'm doing great right now and I was doing great for most of this year.

It's been a really amazing year in so many different ways for me and I've been really grateful about that.

And so had that going and then a couple of weeks ago I get a call with some news that shifts that and reminds me of like,

Oh yeah,

I remember what this feels like.

I forgot.

Like there was such a contrast of like,

Yeah,

Things are going great to,

Oh,

Heavy,

Oh,

Dark.

And I can't share the details just for other people's privacy sake,

But it really,

It triggered me and it brought me back to a space that I haven't been to in a while.

And it also brought me to a sense of like,

Just really feeling heavy and feeling like it's triggering this old wound that I had.

And it was challenging and it was filtering everything else.

It was filtering how I was perceiving.

We just moved to this new place within San Francisco and everything was making me angry.

Everything was like,

I was on edge and I was very guarded and it was affecting how I was living in a big way.

And it was just something I knew that I had to be with.

And after a few days of just living with it,

I'm like,

Okay,

I need to do something about this in a more intentional way.

So I sat on my meditation cushion and I just sat and I went into my body and it manifests for me as like this real heaviness over my heart,

Like just like a physical,

I can physically feel this incredible tension.

And I just kind of relax into it and just be with it for a while.

And then I've been reading this book,

I'm almost finished with The Body Keeps the Score.

It's a book on healing trauma.

And there's a question that they talk about that in a story within the book where this person was actually while doing yoga actually asks,

What does my body want to tell me?

And so I kind of just use that as a prompt.

And I was meditating and I just asked,

What does my body want to tell me?

As I released into it,

I got this insight of a memory of childhood and kind of maybe where this wound triggers me and affects me so much.

And I was able to go into that space and really offer some love to my child self and some comfort to my child self.

And by doing that,

I was also feeling this energy starting to move up,

Up and through my throat.

Started to cry,

Started to try and release it.

And that's a big part,

I think,

Of what our journey of healing is,

Right?

These stuck,

Especially like understanding these imprints in our body that are under our conscious level,

Like doing some things that can release that.

And so sometimes it's going back and forth and finding that insight.

And sometimes it's just feeling.

Sometimes it's why exercise just feels good.

There's certain things that we can get out,

Right?

Just in the simple sense,

When we have a tough day and we go for a run and we go for a workout,

We like,

Oh,

We can feel better afterwards.

We've moved some of that stuck energy in our body.

So I found it really beneficial in myself in working one-on-one with someone as a coach for me and has helped me guide me through doing that.

And I've also been able to use these sort of tools in my work one-on-one with other people.

They're incredibly healing and powerful.

And I'm just really grateful to have that opportunity and to have the tools.

And we all have these tools.

This is nothing.

It's just being able to get present enough with that thing so that we can allow it to move through us or to speak to us in whatever way it needs to.

So that's what we're going to work on today.

So again,

I'm going to try and give some space for you to experience really coming to this practice with a sense of curiosity and openness and allowing whatever's here.

You might find an insight,

You might feel connected,

You might feel peaceful,

And you might not.

You might have compassion for yourself,

Especially if it brings up some stuff that's not able to move through.

Really,

I'll give a cue that brings us back to safety,

But just really have some compassion for yourself with whatever comes up today.

So go ahead and yeah,

Any shifts,

Any way you want to move in from eyes open,

Listening,

Tuning in maybe with other people,

What they're saying,

To a different experience.

If you can,

Eyes closed,

More tuning into yourself.

This is really going to be a practice about tuning into yourself and what wants to emerge.

And so as you find a sense of stillness,

Remembering,

Inviting curiosity to your body,

To your practice today,

Noticing the things that are stuck,

Noticing the things that feel clear,

Finding a rested position,

Your hands and your feet,

Wherever you're at,

Sensing that grounded space beneath you.

And keeping an alertness through your torso,

Your upper body.

Relax the navel.

I know that's a place where I'm always tensing and have to remind myself to just let that out.

Nothing to hold here.

Relax your jaw.

And we're going to start today with some intentional breaths.

And so we're going to breathe in through the front body,

In through the nose,

Breathing in through the whole front body down into your belly.

And then as you breathe out,

Imagining like it's hitting your root chakra and moving up the spine,

So you're breathing out through your back body.

And following that,

Breathing in down through your front body and breathing the energy up base of your spine to the crown of your head through your back body.

Go ahead and let's take five more rounds of that on your own.

Just as you do this,

If you start to notice some energy starting to move,

Some different sensations starting to happen,

You might,

You might not.

And then whenever you've completed the intentional breaths,

You can go ahead and just find your natural rhythm of breath in and out through the nose and feeling your breath at any place that you might feel supportive.

Sometimes that's in your chest,

In your belly,

The nostrils.

And so in this practice,

Because there's going to be some space,

And when there's more space,

There's more thoughts,

There's more distractions in our mind.

And so I'm going to offer you a way to work with those thoughts.

Almost like you're sitting on a peaceful park bench and you're just minding your own business and your being in your body and your practice.

And I'd like you to see thoughts that come as just people walking by.

And sometimes those people will stop to sit and get in conversation with you.

And you can just gently notice that and let them go on their way.

They got things to do.

They got other things to attend to.

Your job is to just be peacefully on this park bench alone.

And so not necessarily using that like I'm bringing you into a visualization,

But just keeping that in mind as you start to get wrapped up in your thoughts.

Oh,

Let that guest go.

Let that person move.

And then bringing your awareness to the base of your spine,

The root chakra area and feeling that space as you can feel the sits bones on your chair,

Your cushion.

And from this foundation of creating safety and intention as we move into this,

You get to offer an intention here to yourself.

May I feel safe enough to feel what I feel and know what I know.

May I feel safe enough to feel what I feel and know what I know.

Re-repeating that as a little mantra,

Just to offer your consciousness a sense of,

Okay,

I can be safe here.

I can allow myself to maybe go into some things that might be challenging.

And so whatever way that you want to intend on that,

Making this your own exploration and listening to your own wisdom,

That's really what today is about.

You and your body has this amazing capacity to heal,

To self-heal.

There's a beautiful energy that is coursing through you.

And where it's going is a beautiful state.

Sometimes that energy just gets blocked.

Looking to your toes here for a moment and just give it like a little gentle squeeze.

I'd like you to use this as an anchor,

As a grounding way to kind of bring you back to safety if you need,

If something gets too intense or if you just feel like you need to kind of just come back.

Just gentle squeeze your toes to know,

Okay,

Yeah,

I'm here.

I'm grounded.

And then taking a gentle breath in with me and breath out.

So bringing awareness,

If your energy was a color right now,

What would you be?

Dark light,

Brown,

Blue,

Just your first kind of intuitive hit.

It's like these are the perception,

The glasses,

The cloud that we're looking through.

And not putting any story onto the color,

Just sensing.

Even like a dark purple,

Whatever it might be.

And then just we'll put a pin in that and come back.

And then just a little training for us to just notice the sensations in our body.

Seeing if you can find a part of your body that feels tight,

Tense,

Or what you would consider maybe unpleasant.

An aching,

Maybe an old physical pain or injury.

And all I'd like you to do is just bring that awareness to that part of your body.

And just be that peaceful person on the park bench.

Just be with this feeling.

Not needing to change it,

Not needing to push it away.

And I just should say too that if you have a tough time connecting with sensations in your body,

Very normal.

So if that's happening,

Just feel maybe your whole body and just know that that's completely normal.

And if a thought's distracting you,

Just let that person walk down the path.

Just come back to this gentle,

Loving awareness on whatever that part of your body that's speaking to you.

Yes.

And then letting that go and just shifting here,

One more little practice session,

So to speak.

Noticing part of your body that feels clear,

Pleasant,

Open,

However you might want to engage with that.

Finding the awareness on it and just using it as the focus point of your practice.

Just being with it.

If someone has sat on your bench,

Tried talking to you about something,

Notice him or her,

She or them,

And let them go ahead and walk back down the path.

And then gentle breath in with me and breath out.

And now notice your body as a whole.

And see if you can tune into the symphony of your body.

What are the various sensations that you might feel that are present?

And sensations meaning buzzing,

Tingling,

Aching,

Tension.

Seeing if we can,

You know,

Part of this is just building the skill of noticing and connecting to our body because we spend so much time in our minds.

And so seeing if you can name any sensations.

Again,

You might,

You might not.

And then I'd like you to start a conversation and ask,

What does my body want to tell me?

Maybe you make it more personal.

What do you want to tell me?

Speaking to it.

And notice if you went to a thought or judgment and the body doesn't speak in thoughts,

It speaks in sensations.

That sensation might lead to an insight,

But first just hearing what the body is saying.

What does my body want to tell me?

And let go of needing to have this perfect or figured out or doing this right.

You are doing this right.

And if it starts to speak,

Just be with it like we were just being with the other sensations.

What does my body want to tell me?

Distracting thoughts are there.

Let that person walk down the path.

They don't have to stay or any other way you want to release the thoughts.

And you can always use that question as a re-centering.

What does my body want to tell me?

If you were here last week kind of using it,

Just meditating into the question.

And notice if there is an emotion that you can connect with the sensation.

Is this sadness,

Joy,

Fear?

If you can name it,

Name it.

If not,

That's okay.

Still just being with the sensation,

Being with the emotion.

Remember if you need to gently squeeze your toes to re-ground you,

That's there.

And if you want to play with this in a different way,

It could be what emotion do I need to feel?

Maybe it's connected to an old wound,

Maybe it's connected to something you've been dealing with for a while or something that came up recently.

What do I need to allow myself to feel?

As you drop into the wisdom of the body,

See if you can let yourself feel that right here.

If there's tears,

Let there be tears.

If there is laughter,

Joy,

Let there be joy.

Maybe there's even some gentle movement.

Maybe there's a noise.

Whatever you can do to shake up what might be stuck.

There's deep wisdom in the body.

Let it express in any way it wants to express.

You have full permission to feel all of it.

As you move through this you might start getting memories or images that relate to the feeling.

Remember our mantra,

May I feel safe enough to feel what I feel and know what I know.

If a knowing comes up,

An insight,

Situation where you wish you had acted differently or whatever it might be,

Just honor this new knowing.

Again,

Many of you,

This might not come and that's so normal.

Staying with this emotion,

Feeling,

Memory,

Whatever it's bringing up inside the body,

Still trying to connect with the body.

Now we'll switch roles here and ask yourself,

What do I want to tell my body?

Maybe it's what do I want to tell my younger self or what do I want to tell my current self?

What do I need to say to this memory or to this experience that came up?

It might be things like you are safe,

It's okay,

You are loved,

It's not your fault,

You are cared for,

You are enough.

So don't just take my words,

I'll let you know what best to tell to your body,

To yourself.

Okay.

If it feels natural and right,

Maybe there's even a hand or two hands over your heart or your belly,

Just embracing yourself here.

Embracing your body,

Embracing your spirit,

Your soul and all that you've been through,

All that you're going through.

Knowing that you're doing your best and that's all we can all do.

And maybe letting go of any conversation with your younger self,

With your body.

And as we start to come back in a moment,

Just one couple last intentions out to bring us in.

Just sharing silently or out loud,

Thank you for what came and what didn't.

May I be guided on this path of healing and growth.

Thank you for what came and what didn't.

May I be guided on this path of healing and growth.

And then there's no rush at all.

Maybe starting to come back by squeezing your toes,

Feeling that sense of support beneath you.

And in your own time,

No rush,

Opening your eyes and coming back to the space.

Reviews

All of your meditations are very soothing and insightful thank you

AMAZING!!!!!!! I will come back to this again and again and again.

Beautifully guided practice. Thank you

Needed that this morning going through a tough time and trying not to get hysterical I now feel more grounded

A wonderful journey inside! Thank you

Wow! Mind blowing! Body/emotion expanding. Incredibly powerful. A gift.

Thank you, Lou. You described the situation precisely. Your guidance will help me stay focused when it happens again.
💖💖💖💖

I’ve been struggling with the trigger that happened at the beginning of the summer. I had difficulty sitting with it so I just let the physical symptoms of anxiety take over which led to fear. I heard your live talk on surrender today and then came back to this. I gave that trigger the space it need it. Now I have faith that the physical symptoms will fade in time💜 So grateful.

This is great. Your introduction describes something that happens to me all the time. I feel fine, really have it together, then some challenge comes along to remind me that I still have work to do. Thanks for helping with the work.

Thank you 🙏

Thank for the guidance and space to fully move into this practice!🙏

Insightful healing wisdom
Thank you

One of the most impactful and soothing experiences I’ve had in a guided meditation. Grateful.

Amazing experience very deep thank you.

Excellent as always 💖. I found this very calming and felt very grounded and at home. That's what my body told me - that I am rooted, grounded. Thank you Lou 🙏🏾☺️.

Marvelous