Defending your emotions.
Allow yourself to really settle down on your cushion or the couch or the chair you're sitting on.
And become aware of what holds you in this moment.
And what really feels safe in your room,
The space you're sitting in,
Or in nature.
What is it that feels safe?
And as you take a couple of breaths,
You just focus your eyes on that what feels safe.
It's like you're using it as your anchor.
Allowing yourself to feel the safety.
That's here in this moment.
The safety is really within you.
Sometimes we do need a little bit of help.
So a plant can help,
A picture.
Just sensing,
Oh,
There is a breath of safety.
And with that,
The nervous system can settle a little bit.
So often we are terrified of our emotions,
Certain emotions.
And for that,
We need a little bit of a taste of safety and a sense that we are held.
So we can meet whatever is there within us with more ease and grace.
With kindness.
As you let your breath take up more room in your body,
As you settle into what holds you,
You also begin to notice any emotion that's present in you right now.
It can be fear,
Joy,
Calm,
Or anger.
It's fine.
Just noticing,
Not trying to change things.
Also refrain from naming any emotion as positive or negative.
It gets you in a state of division and then often into a fight.
So for this meditation,
I invite you to explore what it's like to befriend your emotions.
Those that are pleasant and those that are unpleasant.
Like you have all the colours you can paint with.
The black,
The red,
The light,
The blue.
That's as if you have been given all the colours of life to paint with through your emotions.
So first begin the approach of that you have a colour-pale of emotions that make life more rich.
It gives it depth and fullness.
If you do not judge them,
If you learn to paint with them,
Sometimes we're so afraid of fear,
Anger,
And yet,
If you befriend those feelings,
You discover what enormous life energy and strength gets freed up in you.
Peace is not bland.
Peace is when you can allow all those feelings to be there without being taken over and run by them.
For a moment,
Imagine that you are in a room full of children.
These children are in your house.
There's the child that's really angry.
There's the child that's really happy.
And one that's sulking in the corner.
And one that's hiding in the closet in pain.
Once for a moment,
Feel into what that's like to see your emotions.
Children,
Your whole room is full of them.
And you get to be a mother,
A father,
A friend to the frightened child,
An ally to the grumpy one.
And this meditation just allows yourself to feel what is really present there for you.
What emotion,
What feeling is there for you?
And see what it's like to approach that feeling like a friend would.
If the mind gets very active,
Just recognize the mind is trying to get you away from experiencing your emotions,
Emotions that feel threatening.
And you just acknowledge thank you and you go back to,
And what am I feeling?
And I have this feeling it's not your enemy,
It's not something you need to conquer,
It's not something you need to get rid of,
It's not something that you need to fall into and worship.
It's something that's asking for your presence,
For your friendliness,
Your kind attentiveness.
So what if you bring in this moment your kind attentiveness to the child in you that might be frightened?
Or whatever you experience,
Whatever you feel,
Just bring for a moment your kind attentiveness.
Like that of a mother,
A good mother or father that you may have never had.
Or a friend who is really there,
Who doesn't judge you.
You got that friend inside of you.
And in this moment just acknowledge whatever you're feeling.
Yes,
This fear is here,
Or yes,
This pain is here.
And see what it's like to say,
And I am here to hold your hand,
I am here to be your friend.
This is not to make the feeling go away,
It is about you are bigger and you're giving,
You're offering that what is most needed.
Your presence,
Your kindness.
Maybe you begin to notice that the feeling gets maybe stronger,
Or it softens a little bit because you don't fight so much against it.
Maybe you and that pain can sit on one bench together.
And your pain can finally have a place to pour itself out,
A safe space.
And when you begin to meet your feelings like a friend with some friendliness,
This awareness and warmth,
You may notice how the mind begins to settle.
You may notice that you're not spending your days fighting,
Struggling,
Resisting.
You begin to notice how peace is right there in the midst.
And how love just wakes up,
Is taking hold of the house that you live in.
How presence and love touches every child and says yes.
You too get to be here.
And as you're breathing you may notice that when you give this friendly attention that something that begins to open through the emotion as you allow it to flow,
As you allow it to unfold like a river,
You begin to notice the life force within that.
And how it begins to reveal to you something very precious.
It's like every emotion carries something precious within it.
Every child,
No matter its expression,
Offers you a pearl if you do meet it.
Through presence,
Through love,
Or you could say kind attentiveness.
Now in this moment you may taste it and see what is being revealed to you.
What is opening up for you?
Maybe you feel it through in your body some warmth,
Or you feel fire,
You feel a truth within your anger,
Or you feel a joy that gets liberated within the sadness as you allow the tears to flow.
There's a love and a loss.
There's a peace.
As you make peace with yourself.
Thank you.
