Sitting With Buddha – Caring For Your Emotional Body

In his poem, “The Guest House,” Rumi refers to our physical body as being the home of our emotions. He encourages us to let those emotions and feelings into the home of ourselves so that we might be present with them even if they might be uncomfortable. When we honor our feelings and emotions, this allows us to be present to what we are experiencing without running away from ourselves. Because this can be scary, the energy I love to sit with to help me process emotions is the wise soul of Buddha. Today, we will take a journey with Buddha and discover who is knocking at the door of our hearts. (Thank you for music by: Chris Collins and Blue Dot Sessions).

Transcript

If we have never learned to sit with our feelings or emotions,

They can at times appear to be so overwhelming that if we did sit with them,

They might never stop,

Or go away,

Or change,

And so often we ignore,

Displace,

Or bury those emotions or feelings so that we don't have to deal with them.

What ends up happening though,

Is that they come up one way or another in order for us to look at them,

Or not,

But they're still there.

Today we're going to be working with the energy of Buddha and the sacred Bodhi tree of grounding and enlightenment in order to find comfort in sitting in those uncomfortable places of feeling and emotion,

And not staying there,

But allowing them to move through us and be supported by Buddha's energy,

Letting us know that it'll be okay so that we can feel them,

Acknowledge them,

Let them go,

And then be present for and with them.

Of course,

Just doing this practice one time isn't necessarily going to change anything immediately.

It gives you the ability to find comfort in allowing emotions and then learning how,

When they do come to the surface,

Allow them to be present with you and then move them through.

So this practice will give you a tool or technique in order to learn to sit in that discomfort in order to shift it over time.

Because Buddha is all about non-attachment,

In this guided journey that we'll be taking together to meet with Buddha,

He is not attached to what you're experiencing.

That way he can sit in compassion,

In listening,

And holding space for you without being attached to whether you're having the emotion or not,

Whether you get over it or not,

And just allowing you to be who you are in this moment.

And because he can hold this space of non-attachment to the feelings that are coming up for you,

He can then hold them for you and help you move them through your body,

Your mind,

Out of you and into a space that can learn to transform these emotions into a space of learning and healing and understanding about your own self.

Before we move into the guided meditation with Buddha's energy,

I'd like to share this poem with you by Rumi called The Guest House,

Which is a perfect representation or metaphor for what we'll be doing in our practice today.

The Guest House by Rumi This being human is a guest house Every morning a new arrival A joy,

A depression,

A meanness Some momentary awareness comes as unexpected visitor Welcome and entertain them all Even if they are a crowd of sorrows Who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture Still,

Treat each guest honorably He may be clearing you out for some new delight The dark thought,

The shame,

The malice Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in Be grateful for whatever comes Because each has been sent as a guide from beyond And now let's move into our guided practice to greet the feeling or emotion that wants to be heard and let in today.

And I'll have you move into a resting position,

Whether seated or lying down,

And just allowing yourself to find rest and comfort in this space.

And just make sure your body is supported,

Your head,

Your knees,

Your back,

And then beginning to connect with the earth beneath you.

And from this place of rest and connection with earth,

Taking a deep breath in,

And exhaling,

And another deep breath in,

And exhaling,

And exhaling.

And now when you're ready,

Closing your eyes,

I'll have you take this time now to begin to scan your body.

You can start at your head or your feet,

And just with your mind,

And scanning your whole body and see if there's a feeling or emotion present currently that would like you to be present with it as well.

I'll take this time now just to scan your whole body,

And seeing what emotion is present that would like your attention.

And now imagining that your body is your home,

And your heart is the door to your home.

There is a knock at the door of your heart,

And in your imagination you go to the door,

And you open it up.

There is an emotion or feeling standing at the door who would like to be welcomed in,

To be heard,

To be sought with,

To be felt.

What feeling or emotion is at the door that you welcome in today?

What does this emotion or feeling feel like inside of you?

And in your imagination,

If that feeling or emotion were like a person separate from you,

What would they look like?

How would they be dressed?

Separate from you,

What would they look like?

How would they be dressed?

And now welcoming that feeling or emotion into the door of your heart,

And into the living space of your home,

Of your body.

And now when you're ready,

I'll have you imagine taking that feeling or emotion by the hand.

Walking through the house to the back door,

Opening the door,

Seeing that there is a porch.

You and this feeling or emotion,

Stepping out onto the porch and down the steps and in the distance,

Through a field of grass,

There is a hill where there is a beautiful tree growing.

In silence,

The two of you walk together hand in hand through the grass,

Up the hill,

Down the hill,

To the tree.

And as you arrive at the tree whose canopy is wide and protective and full of beautiful leaves and brilliant branches,

Imagine that you and this emotion or feeling sit down at the base of the trunk of the tree together.

And your emotion or feeling is sitting to the right of you,

And all of a sudden you look to the left and there is Buddha,

Sitting under this beautiful bode tree of enlightenment.

Buddha looking out towards the sky,

The clouds,

Smiling.

And now that you are under the protection of the bode tree,

Seated next to the compassionate heart of Buddha,

You allow the feeling or emotion that has come with you to begin to speak to Buddha,

To tell him how he or she is feeling,

What it feels like inside.

And so in this next moment of silence,

Allow this part of you that wants to be heard to express him or herself,

And as he or she does,

You may feel the feelings throughout your whole body,

But just allow them to flow freely from your head,

Down your spine,

Through your legs and out your feet,

And into the earth,

Allowing the emotions to water the beautiful tree.

Allow this part of yourself to share with Buddha how he or she is feeling now.

And taking a deep breath in,

And exhaling,

And when you look to your right,

You see that the feeling or emotion is no longer sitting to your right,

But is inside of you.

Allow that feeling or emotion that was expressed to continue to move through you,

Freely,

Unobstructed,

Without judgment,

From your head,

Your neck,

Your spine,

Your heart,

Your chest,

Your lungs,

Your stomach,

Your legs,

Your feet,

Your toes.

Buddha reaches out now and holds your hand.

Buddha willingly accepts your feelings and emotions,

Not as burdens,

Not as ugly,

But as a beautiful part of your human heart.

Your human heart.

Continue to allow that feeling or emotion to move through you,

And out of you,

And into Buddha's hands,

To be held in love.

And the more the emotions flow through and out of you and into Buddha,

The more the emotion or feeling of calm and peace flow back into you,

From Buddha,

From the Bodhi Tree.

Surrounding you in this compassionate love and understanding,

Without needing to fix or change anything about who you are,

The feeling or emotion that you're having.

Breathing in the peace of Buddha,

The enlightenment of the Bodhi Tree.

And now Buddha begins to point your attention to all the beauty that is around you.

The sky overhead.

The clouds passing by.

The breeze on your skin.

The smell of the grass.

The sounds of the birds nesting in the Bodhi Tree.

All this life.

All this love.

This being human is a guesthouse.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy,

A depression,

A meanness.

Some momentary awareness comes,

As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all,

Even if they are a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.

Still,

Treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought,

The shame,

The malice,

Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

And we'll close this guided practice by taking three deep breaths with Buddha and the Bodhi Tree.

We'll have a bell between each breath.

And take a deep breath in.

And exhale.

And take a deep breath in.

And exhale.

And one more deep breath in.

And exhale.

And may your heart continue to welcome all the guests who wish to arrive at your door so that you may experience the fullness of life,

Of your body,

Of all that it wants to share with you.

Have a beautiful day.

Namaste.

Reviews

Beautiful! what a wonderful way to engage this poem. 😻

A beautifully meaningful meditation that helped me to relax into what i was feeling and remember to do my best to love myself through it, andthat the the higher energies are supporting me. Blessings Shannon highly recommend.

Thank you for this beautiful track! Love the healing and soothing meditation. 💗💗

Thank you Shannon for opening my heart to " acceptance" of the emotions that greet me through each day
Thank you that I was able to allow them in, sit with them in the safety of the Buddha and under the shelter of the Bodhi tree 🌳
I found this to be comforting, reassuring and opened my heart to acceptance of the guests that enter in my house with love in safety. I.am grateful.
Namaste 🙏 🌟

Thank you shannon. This meditation really helped me in a time of need.💞