Holding Space For Your Emotions

When you’re told to “just let it go” or “think positive,” but your heart isn’t ready, this practice offers a different way. In this guided meditation, you’ll learn how to hold space for your emotions—creating inner safety, naming what you feel without judgment, and breathing with emotions so they can soften and move. Rather than fixing or escaping what arises, you’ll gently listen for the wisdom each feeling carries. This is a grounding, compassionate practice for moments when you feel overwhelmed, numb, or emotionally tender.
Music by ⁠Grand_Project⁠ from ⁠Pixabay

Transcript

Welcome to Whispers of the Heart,

Guided Meditation.

I'm your host and guide,

Noriko Tanigawa.

Today's session is called Holding Space for Your Emotions.

If you've ever told yourself,

I shouldn't feel this way,

Or tried to push a feeling down because it felt too heavy or inconvenient,

This practice is for you.

We often talk about holding space for ourselves,

But what does that really mean?

In this meditation,

We'll walk step-by-step through the process,

Creating a safe inner space where every emotion,

Even the messy or confusing ones,

Can simply exist without needing to be fixed or judged.

Because when we stop fighting our emotions,

They stop fighting us.

They soften.

They reveal their wisdom.

And in that stillness,

We begin to see that none of our feelings are mistakes,

They're messages waiting to be heard.

So,

As you settle in today,

Know that you don't have to try to be calm or peaceful or happy.

You just need to be present.

I'll guide you through each step,

Helping you to breathe,

Notice,

And gently allow what's already here.

Now,

Take a slow,

Steady breath.

Let's begin the practice of holding space for every part of you that needs to be seen.

Find a comfortable seat or lie down.

And in today's practice,

I want you to feel extra comfy,

So grab your favorite blanket,

Your favorite pillow,

Whatever you have to make this practice extra special today.

And if you need a moment,

Feel free to pause this meditation.

Find whatever the comfortable position of your choice.

It might be just lying down on your back like Shavasana or sitting upright with spine straight.

It could be just lying down in a fetal position on your side,

Whatever it may be.

Settle down into your favorite position.

And we are going to take a deep breath in and out three times to ground ourselves.

Let's take a deep breath in.

And breath out.

Let's take another deep breath in.

And breath out.

Let's take one final breath in.

And breath out.

Allow your breath to return to normal.

Just witness your breath coming in and out.

And today we are going to look at our emotions and what it means to hold space.

I mentioned holding space for all your emotions often,

But I never really go into the details or the steps of it.

And this is one of the beauty of meditation because you're creating this safe space for yourself.

So today we are going to focus on the practice of holding space.

And we are going to do this together,

So you don't need to know how to do it.

And hopefully by coming back to this meditation practice a few times you will learn how to do it on your own so that you can learn to hold space for yourself.

And after that,

Learn to hold space for others.

Before we proceed,

I want you to understand one thing.

Emotions that you feel,

All of it,

Whether it's fantastic,

Amazing excitement and passion to very painful depression or something that evokes traumatic experiences from the past,

They are all nothing but just an energy moving through your body.

Although you feel those emotions,

You're only feeling the energy,

Meaning that emotions are not you.

It's just an energy.

And we often run away from those deep,

Dark and ugly emotions that make us feel very uncomfortable.

And every time we look away or run away from those emotions,

We keep the inner body not allowing to escape.

So this holding space practice is very important to allow those trapped energy to move through and out of your body.

Because you do not want to keep those in your consciousness for too long.

So we are going to do this in a very,

Very safe way.

Know that this space that you just created for yourself is a safe place.

Nothing,

Even your most traumatic,

Hurtful experiences or your feeling of being hurt can hurt you in this moment.

And in order to really understand that you are safe and protected,

We're going to imagine we are placing this big bubble right in front of us.

And this is the space we are creating for all the emotions to surface.

And this sphere contains all your inner world,

Your emotions,

Feelings,

Experiences,

Pain,

Sufferings,

Joy,

Happiness,

Excitement,

Passion,

Everything.

But know that you're just outside of it.

You're not inside the sphere.

You're outside.

So you're safe.

So whatever you observe happens inside of this protected bubble and it cannot harm you.

Just like when you're watching a movie with a very intense scene,

You will feel what's going on.

But just like watching a movie,

You can detach and separate yourself from those emotions in this moment.

So you're only a witness.

You're not the emotions.

Okay.

Let's take a deep breath in.

And breath out.

So let's focus on the sphere that we just created.

And then just allow yourself to observe.

You will start to see some colors and textures.

And you might feel all these different feelings and emotions surfacing.

Just observe as a witness.

Emotions coming and going.

Bubbling to the surface.

Undissipating.

And out of those emotions that are surfacing,

You will notice one thing that feels maybe a little bit more intense or heavier than the other.

And every time you do this practice,

It's going to be a little bit different each and every time.

So let go of your judgment.

There's no one thing,

One particular thing that you should feel or not.

If nothing comes up in a moment,

That's totally okay too.

If you spend a little bit of time observing and then see which one particular emotion comes up the most.

Okay,

So now I want you to take a deep look at this particular emotion.

Because if it's coming up right now,

It wants to express itself.

And regardless of what kind of emotion it is,

And no matter how uncomfortable you might feel about this emotion that you're feeling right now,

Allow it to express itself without judgment.

Even if you feel a little bit ashamed or embarrassed about it,

It's okay.

It's just you and the space.

Allow it to come out to the surface.

And allow it to express itself fully.

And as you allow the emotion to express itself,

Start asking why.

Why do you feel that way?

And every response that you get from that emotion,

Keep asking why.

And when we say why,

We are not judging the answer.

We are asking why from our genuine curiosity.

And as you continue asking why,

You'll notice the emotion start to shift.

Something that may have started with some form of anger or frustration may turn into sadness or loneliness or feeling of not seeing or unloved.

And when you get to this feeling of sadness,

Sadness,

Feel it in your body.

You don't need to deny it or refuse it or shame that.

Allow it to be there.

Even when the emotion doesn't make sense to you in this moment,

Allow it to be there.

Provide this loving space for these feelings.

And if you feel your feelings and emotions are getting a little scared and wants to hide,

Just say,

It's okay.

You can say,

It's okay.

I fully accept you exactly the way you feel.

And it's okay.

And visualize creating this loving cradle around the feelings You don't have to try to fix it.

And you don't have to try to change it either.

And the intense feeling may turn into tears.

And that's okay too.

It is one form of the energy that it wants to express itself.

Your tears are a form of release.

Accept it.

Unlove it.

And whatever all the crazy roller coaster of emotions that you might be feeling in this moment,

Just keep saying,

It's okay.

You can stay.

And you're free to express yourself.

And in this moment,

Try not to respond to the emotions that are trying to express itself.

Just allow it to express.

You don't need to engage.

You can just hold the space.

By just saying,

It's okay.

You can stay and I love you.

I'm going to give you some moments to allow yourself to feel everything that you meant to feel in this moment.

Now,

Let's create a little movement to this sphere of emotions that we created.

We are going to take a deep breath in and out three times.

And imagine the breath as the movement.

So as we breathe in,

We create some movement.

And as we breathe out,

We'll push out whatever emotion that no longer serves us and ready to move on.

Okay,

Ready?

Let's take a deep breath in.

And let's sigh it out.

Breathe out.

Let's take a deep breath in.

And big sigh out.

And one more time.

Let's take a deep breath in.

And big sigh out.

How do you feel now?

Do you feel a little lighter?

Maybe a little bit less stressed?

A little bit more ease?

Okay,

So let's bring back this feeling of lightness and ease.

Back into the physical realm.

Slowly,

Wiggle your toes and fingers.

Rotate your wrists and ankles.

Shake your head yes and no.

And whenever you're ready,

Slowly open your eyes.

Welcome back.

The practice of holding space for all your feelings is very simple but very powerful.

And this is one of the most integral part of our spiritual healing journey.

And whenever you have something that is very traumatic or very sad,

Shocking happening to your life,

I invite you to come back to this practice.

And allow yourself,

Allow your emotions to be expressed fully.

No matter how uncomfortable it is.

And more you let it out in the moment,

Less you keep it as a trauma later.

As you trap some of those traumas and traumatic feelings,

Those emotions,

They will surface later in a form of disease.

So it is important for our well-being to process our feelings.

And I know some of those past trauma can be very,

Very difficult to handle.

And something that is not easy to resolve.

Sometimes it might take not just month or couple of years,

But sometimes it might take you decades.

To heal from some of the traumas.

And you just may not be ready.

So as much as,

Yes,

It's important to hold space,

Also understand that sometimes it takes time for our healings.

So be patient.

It's not something we can force.

It's something that we can invite by creating this loving environment within.

And I can tell you from my own experience that some of the trauma needed decades after.

For me to be ready to process.

And that's totally okay.

There's no race.

There's no competition in a healing journey.

It's about showing up,

Being here and now.

So thank you for being so brave today to hold space for yourself.

And I know in time you'll be able to do it on your own.

You won't even need this guided meditation to do so.

And as you learn to hold space for yourself,

You learn to hold space for others.

So thank you for taking this first very important step.

And I know this is going to make not just your life,

But everyone around you into more loving,

Healing space.

I'm sending you all my love and support for your healing journey.

I love you all.

And thank you for listening.

I will see you next time.