A.C.O.R.N Meditation For Processing Difficult Emotions

This is the short verion of the meditation without music. This meditation is based on the acronym A.C.O.R.N for dealing with difficult emotions. This is a Christian meditation. The steps include acceptance, compassion, objective curiosity, reframe, and no layering. It takes you through each of these steps, explaining how to do each step, and giving you time to go through the process. This meditation is to help you process difficult emotions with compassion and Jesus as your anchor.

Transcript

Welcome to the acorn meditation for dealing with difficult emotions.

We're often not taught how to deal with our emotions,

Or if we've suffered from trauma,

Emotional abuse or neglect,

Narcissistic abuse,

Or a traumatic event,

We can't just will our emotions away.

The nature of trauma is that emotions get stuck in the body and no amount of willpower gets rid of them,

And we're not taught how to let go of anger,

Fear,

Depression,

Sadness,

Shame,

And guilt with trauma.

But here's the thing,

If we react to these emotions with another difficult emotion,

We're layering them and it's twice as difficult to heal or overcome the emotions,

Because the emotion itself isn't necessarily a sin,

But what we do with it is what matters.

So what do we do when a difficult emotion comes up?

But how do we do this?

We target the emotions right where they are,

In the body,

At their source.

Being able to process the emotions by reversing whatever put them there in the first place,

And from where they're at,

And being able to allow the emotions to filter and shift back up through the stages of our neural network,

We are able to let those emotions shift back up through the neural network and out of our bodies.

I began to see that healing was possible,

And what happened to me was not my fault,

And that there had to be a way to overcome this,

Even though I hadn't found a significant way before.

And indeed,

There are so many somatic type processes that we can use to heal trauma from our bodies,

And one that I've come up with is to deal with difficult emotions.

So we need to find a way to deal with those emotions where they're at,

And where they come from at their root.

And I believe is a gift from God,

The gift of healing our emotions.

So when a difficult emotion such as fear,

Anger,

Or shame come up,

In the following process on them,

God at the helm of the process say,

Jesus take the helm,

And do the process through prayer,

Talk,

Meditation,

EFT,

Journaling,

Or some combination of them,

Or some other similar form.

This meditation here that takes you through the whole process is called acorn.

I created acorn in response to all of those problems I just described.

Acorn is an acronym of the steps we take to process our emotions on a visceral level at their root,

Through our neural network,

Using time-tested and scientifically proven strategies.

This meditation takes you through acorn in real time,

So you can process difficult emotions and release them permanently from your body.

Learning to experience love inside of ourselves,

From God,

For ourselves,

And for others,

Is another goal of the acorn meditation.

The acorn meditation is A,

Acceptance,

C,

Compassion,

O,

Objective curiosity,

R,

Refocus,

Reframe,

N,

No layering.

So those steps are what we will go through in our meditation,

And we slow down,

And we take our time,

And we don't rush,

Because it took a long time for that stuff to get worked into your body to make you believe,

If this is the case,

That somehow you were messed up intrinsically.

If it's so deep in your psyche and in your body that you feel messed up intrinsically,

It will take some time to work that stuff out.

So easy does it,

Easy does it,

Steady as she goes.

Be patient,

Patient with yourself,

So when meditating,

It's good to have an anchor.

For some,

It's the breath.

For some,

It's the sounds in the room,

And for others,

Soft music.

We will use God as our ultimate anchor,

With our breath and the music in the background helping us stay grounded during this time,

And staying rooted in God's truth,

Letting emotions filter through your nervous system takes time,

Patience,

And love,

So always allow what is happening.

Accept your emotions and love yourself,

And feel the emotions,

And feel God's love through the whole process.

It's okay.

You're safe.

It's okay.

No matter what's going on,

You're always safe.

If it ever gets to be too much,

You can walk away,

But just remember you have God's protection.

You have God's prayer of Psalm 91 over your spirit and life.

God is speaking those words over you.

You are protected,

And you are safe.

You are safe.

It's okay.

Say it.

Take a deep breath.

Take a deep breath.

Let it out.

In through the nose,

Out through the mouth.

Take another deep breath.

Let it out.

Now say,

I am safe.

I am safe.

I am safe.

Breathe.

There.

Is that better?

You are always safe.

Now,

With the steps of the acorn process,

We're going to start A,

Acceptance.

That's A,

Acceptance,

And we're going to take a few minutes to go through each step as it is,

As it's meant to be.

Now,

First identify an emotion that's going on in your body.

It might be one that's overpowering.

You may immediately know what's causing the emotion,

And you may not have any idea,

And it's just coming out of nowhere.

It's okay.

So the first step is not to push the emotion away.

The first step is acceptance,

Also known as surrender.

Recognize your emotion.

What is the emotion that most wants your attention the most now?

Recognize it.

Identify what the emotion is.

Give it a name.

Naming it makes it lose its power.

I'll say it again.

Naming it makes it lose its power.

Accept how you feel without judgment.

Acknowledge and own the emotion.

Own as in,

I have this,

Not I am this.

I have this emotion.

I am not this emotion.

Now take a few moments and recognize this emotion,

Identify it,

And give it a name,

And just let it be there.

Just feel it.

It's safe.

It's okay.

Just feel it without judgment.

Take about two minutes or so to do that now.

You you you you you you okay coming back the second step in the process is compassion that's see compassion as Christians were often taught to offer compassion to other people but sometimes we forget to give compassion to ourselves too we're to love our neighbors as ourselves and one thing that I thought about is that if the whole world is commanded to love their neighbors then that's like seven or eight million people commanded to love you just like you're commanded to love them so it goes both ways we're all worthy of love learning self-compassion is an important part of the process it might not be as important as God's love but it is very important offer yourself with this emotion in mind and understanding what emotion it is without judgment accepting it offer yourself open compassion and allow yourself to feel surrounded by God's visceral tangible love and grace while you feel the emotion at the same time if it helps think about someone that loved you unconditionally and made you feel safe think about what that feeling was like it might have been your dog or your cat it might have been a grandmother it might have been God himself but think about that and that will help you to bring up that feeling of embodied love rest in this love picture the emotion with the backdrop of an open sky picture a crisp autumn blue sky that is God's pure and infinite love feel the emotion and love with this picture in your mind for a few minutes until the emotion begins to lose its power it's open infinite unending abundant space love and grace God's love is open sky picture that emotion that you have with the background of unconditional perfect flawless grace and love God is love so picture that emotion and yourself with that emotion being surrounded by that and just feel it and see it however it comes to you and feel that greater open space of love and awareness to surround your emotion breathe while you do it keep your breath open and natural do that for about two minutes now you you you you okay oh the third step in the acorn acronym is oh that is objective curiosity but objective curiosity asks you to explore your emotion with objective curiosity full awareness and mindfulness what does the emotion feel like for example if you feel anger is it seething burning feeling in the pit of your stomach is it a tightness in your chest if you feel sad does it feel like something is weighing down on your throat like there's a lump in your throat do you feel coldness in your arms if you feel anxiety is it tingling in your arms and legs is it a falling feeling in your stomach whatever it might be what is the sensation like in your body where is it located in your body what are the qualities of the feeling is it heavy tingly cold warm does it feel like you're falling do you feel dizzy does it feel dense light what does it feel like so get the sensations in your body identify them and then don't stick with the words stick with the feelings and the emotions themselves in your body go to that place in your body with those feelings and just be there just feel it don't try to change it or make it anything it's not just be there and feel it do that for about two minutes now and then we'll do the second half of Oh you you you you you you Okay,

Coming back to O,

Objective Curiosity.

Once you've done that,

The second step of objective curiosity is to talk to your emotion.

There's a therapy called IFS,

Or Internal Family Systems,

Where we have a self,

And that self is part of who we are,

Separate from trauma and all of these emotions.

It's the observer of the emotions,

The witness of our experiences.

That's the self.

But these different parts are there to try to protect us.

So asking these emotions,

What about this emotion in my body needs attention now?

You could ask it,

What about you most needs attention now?

Do it with compassion.

Do it with care.

Do it with objectivity,

Willing to hear whatever it says to you.

What are you trying to tell me?

What do you need me to know?

Why?

So ask yourself,

Where is this coming from?

What is most urgent now?

What needs attention the most now?

What are you trying to tell me?

What is this about?

Why?

Ask yourself those questions and see what comes up without judgment,

Without fear,

And without forcing it.

Just give yourself some space.

See what comes up with objective curiosity and mindful attention.

Whatever comes up,

It's okay.

Whatever comes up,

You're safe.

God is your anchor.

He's here with you.

Picture him here with you.

He's got you.

He's got your back.

He is your protector.

You're safe.

Remember Psalm 91.

Not right now,

But just make a little mental note.

If you feel like it will help you after this meditation,

You might go back and write down what happened in this meditation,

Including the answer to these questions.

Take a couple of minutes to explore this and don't judge what you see and feel,

Starting now.

You you you you you you you developer you Okay?

Coming back into your body coming back into your mind R.

Try R now.

The next step in the ACORN acronym is REFOCUS,

REFRAME.

Now we've gone through the process of accepting our emotions and identifying them,

Showing our self open compassion,

And then exploring the emotion with objective curiosity.

Now REFOCUS and REFRAME,

Once you understand where the emotion came from,

It is to refocus and reframe the situation around it.

Flip the script and change the narrative around the situation.

This is something you would keep working on after the meditation,

But start here in this process.

Every single emotion we have,

Whether conscious or unconscious,

There's a narrative or a script,

A feedback loop,

Or a film that plays in our minds over and over and over.

And if it's something that's unhealthy,

We often call this ruminating or overthinking.

But the thought feeds the emotion,

The emotion feeds the thought,

And so on.

Chicken or the egg?

Doesn't matter where it started,

But what matters is cutting it off,

Turning it off.

So flip the script and change the narrative around the situation.

Don't try to change the emotion or force it away.

Instead,

Consider applying the Serenity Prayer to your situation to gradually change your perception of it.

So at this moment,

Ask yourself these questions.

What can I change about the situation?

What can I not change?

Do I know the difference?

Write the answers down later and take action to follow through on these questions.

But right now,

I just want you to reflect on them.

Think about your emotions.

Think about where they came from and what most needs attention now.

Now within this situation,

Is there something you can do something about?

If there is,

Then I want you to take note of that now.

Think about that now.

I'm not asking you to be unrealistic about the emotion.

I'm not asking you to deny the emotion.

I'm not asking you to cover it up with fake positivity.

But having a positive attitude,

Even about a difficult situation,

Can be very,

Very helpful.

What I'm asking you to do is to think about healthy ways to solve problems around this emotion and to think about what this emotion is trying to tell you in terms of moving forward and healing.

So think about this for a couple of minutes,

However it works in your situation.

I'll ask the questions one more time.

What can I change about the situation?

What can I not change?

Do I know the difference?

Take about two minutes to reflect on this now.

Thank you.

You you you coming back into the present moment okay the final step in the acorn acronym is no layering that's in no layering and that's the last step it comes automatically and it's a byproduct of the rest of the steps by allowing your emotions to be there you are not layering the emotion it's okay to feel feelings don't kill you feelings are just indicators that something in our lives needs attention not layering means don't be disgusted that you're angry don't be frustrated that you're depressed and so on it just means observe the emotion without judgment let it pass like a cloud in the sky it may even mean not reacting to a reaction to an emotion and it's hard at first because that fight-or-flight reaction in our body we're so used to getting worked up there's a place between an emotion coming up in the reaction and that's where our power of choice lies just like the space between the words that I'm speaking now that's where the power lies our flesh is going to want to give into that because it's so powerful it's like an addiction but when we stop and when we pause and when we think what is something I can do not to react to choose to respond instead of to react and as you get more and more experienced at not layering you'll learn not to bite the hook start where you are it may mean like I said not reacting to a reaction to an emotion if you've already reacted to an emotion then don't react to the reaction this could go on forever but do you see how it starts with a spark and there's a chain reaction and it can just escalate if we at any point in the process can interrupt that that is where the power to change our lives is that is how we let go of a trauma that is where healing happens in the body along with allowing these emotions to be there that sounds contradictory it sounds paradoxical but it's both at the same time it's about letting go and feeling in the body but it's also about not letting those emotions control us and a better way to put it is not letting them have us or possess us do you understand how you can embody and hold an emotion and feel it without judgment and without letting it completely possess you that's where the key lies the more you do it the more you will build neural connections in your brain that allow you to do this more and more that's the acorn process if you do this again and again and again on your difficult emotions you will see progress you will see healing there will be times when you feel like you're not processing and progressing and healing but you are don't let that stop you keep going don't give up so acorn is a process to help you heal emotions to help you deal with difficult emotions and to help you get them through your neural network out of your body out of your mind out of your spirit and out of your brain so you can begin to learn to process them in a way where you can manifest the fruits of the spirit where you can live in peace joy love harmony and kindness and you can actually manifest experiences of love in your own life and be able to love other people more naturally because you love yourself and because you can open those channels that have been blocked and allow God's love and that love comes through into those places where trauma was before and it cleanses all of that stuff and pushes it further out so I hope this process has been helpful for you do it as much and as often as you need keep coming back to it if you go away come back if you fall away come back God knows our processes as imperfect humans he takes us just as we are so don't walk away in shame just because you fall away for a little while come back just as you are and God accepts you and takes you just as you are and you'll start to see progress in your life thank you so much for listening God bless you