22 | Mindful Of Emotions 1 (With Mini-Class)

Learn how to handle emotions mindfully with a mini-class (3 minutes) before the practice & with a quick de-brief after. Practice a systematic approach for experiencing emotions with greater skill and ease and, reduced reactivity. This practice is particularly suited to those wanting detailed instructions, provided at regular intervals, to help master the fundamental skills of naming & feeling emotions for increased emotional balance. This practice supports Week 6 of my 8-Week mindfulness program.

Transcript

G'day,

My name is Rachel Grace.

Thanks for joining me for this practice entitled,

Responding Mindfully to Emotions.

This session starts with a mini class before we get into a practice.

Research shows that one of the biggest benefits of practicing mindfulness is an enhanced ability for managing emotions more skillfully.

Many people struggle with emotional ups and downs and the decisions we make and the behavior we demonstrate when we're emotionally reactive can create significant suffering not just for ourselves but for those around us.

But the good news is that through practice we can learn to manage our emotions with greater skill and ease and this benefits every aspect of our lives.

So in this session we'll be practicing being mindful of emotions to build that capacity so that this skill can bring benefit to us in our lives.

We will use a systematic five part process that involves noticing,

Naming,

Locating,

Physically feeling and consciously responding to emotions.

So let's prepare for our practice.

I invite you to gently roll your shoulders up towards your ears as you breathe in.

And then relaxing your shoulders back and down again as you breathe out.

Now I invite you to take a moment to find a posture that is both relaxed and alert.

Let your awareness take in the space around you,

Gently seeing the environment you're in,

Noticing the sounds around you.

If during this practice an overwhelming emotional state or physical pain arises or you just find yourself incredibly sleepy or agitated the invitation is to support yourself to rebalance before deciding whether to rejoin or set aside the practice for today.

Some skillful ways to rebalance energy is to first of all move your body and change your posture.

Second you can shift your attention either to your anchor of choice or by being more open to your environment by opening your eyes and looking at what's around you.

Finally you can take a big breath in,

Particularly you can take a big in breath to boost your energy or you can do a big long extended out breath to rebalance agitation.

I now invite you to join me in taking a deep breath in filling your lungs right up.

And then as you let go with a long out breath allowing your eyes to gently close or softening your gaze down to the floor if that feels right for you.

If you would like to you can set an intention right now for how you want to approach this valuable practice time.

And we'll start the practice with the ring of a gong.

GONG Becoming aware of the sensations of breathing.

Breathing in,

Know you're breathing in.

Breathing out,

Know you're breathing out.

Bringing awareness to your body,

Noticing how your body feels in this moment.

Without judging what it feels like,

Just noticing what the body feels like.

What is the state of your heart and mind right now?

Holding whatever is there with a kind attention.

Wherever you are,

Whatever the state of your body or mind,

You're welcome to share in this practice from that place.

So I invite you to settle into this practice by bringing a relaxed and focused attention to your preferred anchor.

Whether that's paying attention to the sensations of the flow of breath or awareness of sounds arising and passing.

Or feeling the different kinds of physical sensations in your feet and hands right now.

Whatever your preferred primary anchor is,

I invite you to settle your attention there now.

And each time you notice that your mind wanders,

Gently return your attention to your anchor.

You will use your anchor during this practice.

So use this next minute of silence to steady your attention and calm the mind.

Paying close attention to your preferred anchor,

Returning your mind each time it wanders.

After a time,

Become mindful of any emotions that call your attention.

You can bring the same close quality of attention and non-judgmental awareness as you've been bringing to your anchor to your emotions now.

Let your awareness be open to noticing whatever emotions are present for you in this moment.

When an emotion arises,

Let go of attention to the anchor and receive the emotion with a receptive and kind awareness.

Noticing any emotions that are present for you right now.

It can be helpful to silently name emotions in a gentle way.

It doesn't matter whether the name is exactly or technically the right word or not.

Naming emotions is simply a practice that helps us build awareness of emotions.

So try that now.

Naming whatever emotion or emotions arise in your awareness.

Sad,

Joy,

Bored,

Anxious or excited.

As you attend to the emotion,

Notice carefully where you feel it in your body.

See if you can locate where this emotion is felt most strongly as a physical sensation in the body.

Is this emotion felt in the chest,

The forehead,

In the hands or the back,

Belly,

Perhaps the throat or across large parts of the body,

Perhaps even the whole body?

Also notice how it feels as sensations.

See if you can feel what the physical sensations are like where the emotion is being felt.

For example,

If the emotion present is sadness and you feel that in your chest,

Ask yourself what are the physical sensations like in the chest and notice them.

For example,

Perhaps it might be heat and heaviness.

Noticing sensations in your body now,

Heavy or light,

Warm or cool,

Tingly or tight,

Whatever it might be,

Just noticing the sensations.

Now check how you are relating to these sensations and this emotion.

Are you resisting it,

Clinging to it or just being with it?

See if you can just be with the sensations and the emotion,

Accepting them as they are with a kind and gentle awareness.

How does it respond to kind awareness?

Does it dissolve or get stronger?

Does it change into another emotion?

Notice this too.

Consciously responding to each emotion and the sensations associated with each emotion with a gentle and kind awareness,

Letting them come and letting them go.

When the emotion has dissolved,

Return your awareness back to your anchor for a time.

You can include emotions in your mindful awareness as well as attending to your anchor.

Emotions come and go and as you become the calm and steady witness,

Acknowledging them without getting caught by each one.

Remaining in mindful,

Kind awareness,

You gradually become more open,

More balanced and more free.

As we approach the end of the practice now,

I invite you to join me in taking a deep breath in,

Filling the lungs and then relaxing your body and your mind as you breathe out.

Allow the corners of the mouth to rise ever so slightly into a gentle half smile,

Savouring this moment.

And to conclude,

I'll ring the gong three times.

In your own timing,

Allow your eyes to open,

Gently bringing your attention back up into the environment around you.

Take a moment to stretch or sit back and just notice how you feel.

Do you feel the same as you did before this practice or has something changed?

You can use this five step process of noticing,

Naming,

Locating,

Physically feeling and consciously responding to emotions during formal mindfulness practice and informally in any moment during your day to day life.

Even doing just one step in the process,

For example just physically feeling the emotion,

Will open up a gap between the emotion arising and your response to it and in that gap you have a chance to check in and choose what you need to connect in with the consequences of potential courses of action and then to choose wisely how you want to respond.

Anytime you practice being aware of emotions at any stage of the process,

You will be strengthening the neural networks in your brain that will help you to feel your emotions without being run by your emotions.

Use this technique of naming and feeling emotions as often as you can in your life and it will serve you well.

Appreciate yourself for the dedication to your own well-being that you've just demonstrated.

Each time you practice you are changing your brain for the better and building your capacity to handle life more skillfully so well done.

May mindfulness positively impact you,

What you do and all of those around you.

Thanks for practicing with me,

I hope you will join me again.

Reviews

Namaste 🙏

Marvelous practice!!! I gained lightness and lots of perspective eith it. I will definitely try to repeat it frequently and to share it with my loved ones. I very grateful for this practice! Namaste 🙏🏻

I’ll join you, practicing. Gracias 🙏🏻

I like this. It's hard but I'm sure it can be learnt with practice. I've had 2 goes already. Definitely will keep trying. 👍🙏🌞

Very helpful. Thank you 😊

I appreciate you and this practice. 💙🙏🏻💙

Excellent! Thank you! Will return to this!

I found this meditation very helpful. I find it hard to identify my emotions physically but I achieved it today. Thank you Rachel

Good m

This will take time for me. I had a tendency let the emotion run away with me. Regained control using the breath . By the I observing and naming. Will take practice. I do feel more in control.