Exploring Emotions

This 30-min practice was recorded live during an online mindfulness program facilitated at the University of Malta. In this session, I invite exploration of how emotions are experienced in the body. I also use the tool of mindfulness of seeing for grounding awareness on the present moment and relate to emotions from that space.

Transcript

Good,

Hello everyone.

As we are getting set up for the mindfulness session,

Today I'm going to ask you to source something from the space where you are at.

So if you can find either a fruit or a plant or something to hold in your hands that you can pay attention to and we are going to be focusing on vision.

We are going to be making a start quite soon,

So if you want to leave that object beside you,

I'll put it beside me so I can also see it,

Leave it somewhere in front of you and start finding a position where your body is comfortable and it also has a sense of being upright,

A sense of respect at this moment and allowing the shoulders also to be soft so it's always good to start the meditation with soft movements that allows a transition from the everyday to a space of awareness of sensing and becoming more in contact with the body.

And the invitation is to start finding your position,

So finding connections,

Sit bones to your chair or to your cushion and allowing the hands to be softly sitting on your laps and on your knees and when you start feeling comfortable just softening your eyes.

We prepare for the practice of mindfulness meditation by making a clear intention of being with the body,

Of taking this time to look after ourselves,

To allow the mind to take a rest,

So being of duty of whatever we've been doing during the day,

This is half an hour to simply soften the mind and just allowing that intention to be present and when that sensation,

When that intention becomes a sensation,

Just allow it to soak in your body and we leave it to stay at the back of the mind and we start connecting to breath,

So simply noticing breath moving inside the body,

Breath moving body,

We become aware of sensations of the body,

Simply scanning the area of the head,

The face,

Sensations in the neck and the throat area,

Noticing sensations around the shoulders,

The torso,

The back,

We notice the sensations of the right arm and the left arm and then noticing the point where the hands are touching the legs and we complete the sensation of the legs,

So notice that point and then complete the sensation of the left leg,

Zooming into the sensation of the right leg and with that awareness of the body breathing,

We're going to connect to the entire journey of the breath,

Paying attention to the details of the breath coming in through the nose,

Perhaps even noticing through which nostril we are breathing,

The natural breath coming into the body,

The life force inside the body calls for that breath in and then we follow the journey of that breath in the chest and perhaps also the upper back,

So feeling the lungs expanding in all directions in the abdomen and simply follow with great detail the next three cycles of breath.

And from this attention to the breath,

We're going to expand our breath in and out through our awareness to the forces inside the body,

We're going to investigate emotions,

So what are emotions?

How do we experience emotions?

So rather than trying to find an intellectual answer,

We're going to simply notice what's the kind of force that is in the body right now,

Paying attention to where is that energy manifesting in the body.

Emotions have this great power of moving our physiological system,

Producing changes of chemical reactions in the body which affect the experience of the mind,

It affects how we feel right now in this moment with these surroundings.

So without naming the emotion that we might feel right now,

We're going to zoom into the details of this force inhabiting the body.

We notice the taste of the saliva inside the mouth,

We can notice whether there are any details of that emotion in the throat.

In the throat area is where we have the organs for speech,

How this emotion often communicates to the world through utterances,

Words,

But often it's not so much the meaning of the word but it's that energy that we feel in the throat when we speak those words,

When we speak the emotion.

So taking a moment to sense the sensations in the throat and we move to the area of the heart and simply notice in the force the vibrations in the area of the heart.

And I'd like to continue that journey of tracing sensations to whatever body part calls your attention.

Just noticing the details of these inner sensations,

What often can be called as the inner weather.

No matter what the weather is like outside,

Often our inner weather is very powerful.

And it may be that we can teach our children And the breath is a powerful tool to learn about our emotions in the body.

Emotions are these forces that have the capacity to inhabit our mind and the body.

So notice where the breath is,

Whether it's moving up in the chest or in the abdomen,

Or whether the sensation is strong in the area of the forehead.

And without naming the emotion,

Simply notice what's the weather like in your body right now.

The emotions have this strong power to color our experiences,

No matter what the weather is like outside,

That we might have a different experience in our inner world.

So we're going to use sensations as the little pieces of information to learn more about this world of emotions.

Perhaps any kind of pulsations,

Vibrations around the eyes.

The eyes are often organs that express our joy,

Our anger,

Our happiness.

They are very genuine organs,

So they can speak before we open the mouth.

So notice the sensations of the eyes and what it tells of our emotional tone,

The emotional force in the body right now.

And without naming that emotion,

Simply notice that force and whether that force feels contained in the heart area,

Or whether it feels that it can travel to other places in the body.

And notice also how the kind of color,

The kind of weather inside the body might be changing as we pay attention to it.

Emotions have a life,

A duration,

And they are in constant change,

Whether we pay attention to them or not,

Whether we follow them or not.

They are in constant change,

Traveling in and out of bodies.

So if you can simply notice the weather-like inside your body right now and how this emotional tone is coloring your experience,

The experience of this moment,

Meditating,

Sitting together with other people who are meditating in their homes,

In the sitting practice,

We can take time to observe emotions.

We can sort of isolate them and somehow notice that they are separate from our being.

But in the everyday,

Emotions often take a very strong and leading role in the things we choose to do,

And the things we choose not to do.

So perhaps we can bring to mind the emotional tone in the body before coming to the practice.

Simply recollecting any sensations or memories or the effort that it took us to commit to this practice.

And then simply noticing what's your experience right now,

What happens when we sit and pay attention to the moment,

To the experience of this moment.

And with that awareness of the weather-like inside the body,

We're going to softly open the eyes and we're going to pick up the object that we've chosen.

So gently,

In your own time,

Simply taking whatever object,

It could be a live object as well,

Something to pay attention to,

And simply allowing our eyes to get very curious,

But very caring as well.

So there's an emotional tone that we want to bring to the practice of seeing.

These are caring eyes.

You can also use your hand if you want,

If so if you want,

And simply paying attention to the little details of this object.

And we can look at that object from different perspectives.

And noticing how the light falls.

And perhaps bringing it closer and it becomes blurry.

And just allowing fully our experience to be with this object.

And noticing color,

Texture.

So it's the experience of seeing,

Not so much the meaning of this object or the value.

We often see things in the world through the lens of wanting.

So in this practice,

We detach seeing from desire,

Or so we want to practice.

So the intention is simply noticing,

Seeing.

And the breath is there,

Moving.

And allow the intention to be shifting from one little feature,

From one little thing that would cause our attention to the next one.

Without naming,

Without trying to learn something about the object,

Simply observing,

Noticing.

Being fully with the sensations of seeing.

And our eyes have this capacity of touch.

They can sense the temperature,

The texture.

So simply allowing tactile eyes and caring eyes to take over your entire experience.

So allow yourselves to be soaked with this experience of seeing.

And it's also playful.

And the breath is there.

And simply take a moment to notice whether there are thoughts coming in the mind at the same time.

To simply allow it almost to split your attention and notice,

Was there any thoughts?

Are there any thoughts coming in as I'm fully with this act of watching,

Seeing?

Just allowing that question to be there.

And then notice what happens when you're absorbing that act of seeing.

What's happening in the mind?

What kind of thoughts are coming in?

Are there from this moment?

Or perhaps if you are bored,

There's any kind of thought relating to judging or remembering something.

Simply notice whether there's space or not.

What kind of energies are in the mind?

And very,

Very slowly allowing the object,

We bring the object down,

Place it down.

And softly closing the eyes one more time.

And just allowing the qualities of that seeing to stay there for a few seconds.

And simply pay attention to the emotional tone in the body right now.

Perhaps this practice of seeing produced a different tone,

A different weather or color in the mind.

And as we come to the end of the practice,

We're going to allow the mind to be soft and free and be wherever it needs to be.

And the breath is also natural and expansive and it has freedom to move where it wants to move.

And before we close the practice,

I'm going to let you stay with your breath for the next five cycles.

You can count them if so you want or I can count them for you when I call you back in five cycles of breath.

And with the fifth out breath,

Softly bringing the hands together and rub the hands.

And covering eyes,

Just absorbing the heat of the hands.

And very slowly allowing the light to travel through the fingers and the eyelids to softly open,

Giving freedom to vision,

Looking openly.

And then one more time.

And then simply brushing the head and we start waking up the body.

So slowly start bringing movement,

Opening the spine,

Just allowing any kind of open movements that could allow the body to feel awake.

Unfolding legs or stretching legs,

Shaking legs,

Shaking hands,

Moving the neck.

And we close the practice.

If you feel that you want to join me by bringing your hands together,

You can do so.

Or if not,

Just simply being there and simply bringing gratitude and sense of gratefulness for having a space to practice with others.

To making the effort to do something to look after ourselves and others,

Because any echoes of the practice are always pouring and communicating to others around us.

So thank you so much for being there,

For making my Monday afternoons.