Feel Your Feelings

So often we find ourselves resisting what we truly feel. This meditation explores these feelings with awareness to allow them to flow through, rather than become stagnant. Starting with awareness of body and breath, you will practice feeling your feelings and better understanding what they really are in order to be able to continue with your day less burdened.

Transcript

A welcome to this meditation about allowing yourself to feel your feelings. Taking a moment to just find a comfortable spot, Either sitting upright but relaxed, Or maybe lying down if that feels better for your body. Allowing yourself to settle into stillness. You can close your eyes, You can soften your gaze looking towards the floor. And to help you settle in, Taking a slow deep breath through the nose. Exhaling softly. Breathing in deeply. And releasing. And as you breathe, With each exhale, Allowing your body to maybe settle in just a little bit more. Perhaps feeling your shoulders relax. Your jaw maybe soften. Noticing your hands and where they're resting today. And as we explore what it's like to allow yourself to feel your feelings, You look at whatever emotions are present, Whether they're pleasant or unpleasant. We're going to practice meeting them with compassion and acknowledgement and honor. You don't have to fix or analyze anything during this practice. You don't have to engage with what comes up. As a matter of fact, I encourage you to just observe. Be in the moment with them. Just allow yourself to notice. To breathe. Just to hold space for what comes up. The poet Rumi said, Feelings are just visitors. Let them come and go. We're going to practice that today, Letting them come. But recognizing that we don't have to even invite them in. We don't have to make them comfortable. We don't have to offer them a cup of tea. We can acknowledge them and allow them to be on their way. Bringing your attention now to the body as you sit, Feeling the supportive nature of whatever is holding you, Whether it's a bed or a chair or the floor. Feeling the weight of your body. Where your feet rest right now, Your hands on your lap. Noticing your breath. That natural rhythm that your body has set for you. Feeling the air moving in and out. You don't have to do anything to change it. Just follow that inhale and that exhale. Again, With each exhale, Allowing yourself to arrive more fully in the present moment. Right here, Right now. Breathing in and breathing out. Now bringing the attention to the top of the head. Switching on your light if that feels right. Allowing that light to cascade over the body as it illuminates all parts of you. Slowly moving down the body from the crown of the head all the way down to the toes. Go at your own pace. Look in any corners. Noticing any sensations, Any tension, Any discomfort. Any warmth or coolness. Things that might be tight. Things that are just resting with ease. There's no need to really label it anything good or bad. Just allowing these feelings to be present and acknowledging them as they are. When you reach the toes, Seeing if you can bring into your awareness the glow of you. That outline you're making in your space. Feel that energy, That buzz that is you. Vibrating, Resting. And shifting that awareness now inward into the depths of you. Perhaps asking yourself, What am I feeling right now? Not necessarily searching for a particular answer, Just notice what's already here. Perhaps right this moment there's calm or peace. Perhaps there's sadness or worry or confusion or even numbness lurking in the shadows. Whatever's here is absolutely welcome. If an emotion arises, Try naming it to yourself. Perhaps it's sadness, Call it anxiety, Contentment or grief or relief. Allowing us to name these emotions helps acknowledge them, Helps bring them just for a moment to the forefront. Without having to get caught inside it. It's here, But it doesn't define you. See if you can keep a bit of a distance. Notice that this doesn't have to be who you are. It's just something that you are experiencing at the moment. Bring your attention to where this feeling, These emotions live in your body. Perhaps it's in different places. Perhaps it's all welling up in the same area. Do you notice it in your chest, In your throat, Your stomach, Your shoulders? How does it feel? Is it tight, Heavy, Sort of fluttery or warm? Just notice. You're not here to engage with it or figure it out. What we're doing here is we are honoring these feelings, Whatever they are. We're just acknowledging their presence. Like noticing a wave come into the shore. If something difficult comes up, The thought or an emotion starts to take you away with it. See if you can soften the edges of it. Soften the grip. Remind yourself this is just a visitor. I can acknowledge it and I can let it go. Allow your breath to get involved. Letting it move gently towards that feeling. So that breathing in, I feel what's here. Breathing out, I allow it to be. You can say to yourself, It's okay to feel this. I don't have to fix it. I don't have to make it comfortable. I can hold space for this temporarily until this thought is on its way. These feelings are energy in motion. Things are moving, Rising and falling. You don't have to engage in the story behind them. You don't have to even resist them. Let alone cling to them. You just are sitting on the shore watching these waves come and go. All of the emotions that you've named are ebbing and flowing. They will continue to do so and that's okay. There will be a time to engage with them. There will be a time to let them go fully. But right in this moment, You can just watch them. So all of those feelings, The sadness, The worry, The grief, Even the calmness and the happiness and the contentment, They're passing through. Taking the next couple of moments to really allow what's going to come to your door to come. And practice this act of detachment. Just observing what's happening. See what it yields. One aspect of our practice today is focusing on the compassion that we're calling upon to allow ourselves to feel these feelings. If it feels right, Feel free to place a hand over your heart or your belly. Just feeling that warmth of your own touch, Your own caring. Let it be a signal of giving yourself kindness. Showing yourself compassion. Perhaps saying to yourself, May I meet this moment with kindness, With compassion. May I be gentle with myself. May I accept myself just as I am. Repeating those words, May I meet this moment with kindness and compassion. May I be gentle with myself. May I accept myself just as I am. Imagine your light coming back. That same light you bathed your body in not too long ago. Perhaps it's soft and warm or bright and cool. Just allow it to sort of form in the center of your chest. With each breath, You allow this light to expand, Filling your chest, Your body, All of you, Bringing warmth, Care, Compassion, Space to hold every part of you. If a difficult feeling is still present, Sort of hanging on, Imagine surrounding it with this light as if you're wrapping it in love and kindness. You don't need it to disappear. You're simply allowing it to exist safely within you, Within your own compassion, Until it's ready to move on. It's part of you. It's part of how you view the world, How you manage in the world. Remind yourself, Whatever comes up, I can meet it with awareness and presence and hold it or let it go. I can let it come and I can let it leave. As Pema Chodron said, You are the sky, Everything else is just the weather. These feelings like the weather are not permanent. They're energy moving through waves, Visitors, Clouds in the sky. And beneath all of those feelings is you and your steady awareness and that spaciousness that can hold it all. You're built for it. May I meet this moment with kindness and compassion. May I be gentle with myself. And may I accept myself just as I am. Grounded in your awareness. With the strength to hold these feelings, These thoughts, These emotions. Allowing yourself to honor all that you feel. Meeting these feelings with kindness and love. And remembering that this practice of acceptance is always here. Whether it's grief or fear, Anxiety, Anything that comes to visit. You have this tool of awareness. You can pause. You can breathe. And you can remember that it's safe to feel, Safe to allow the feelings, And safe to let the waves pass. Bringing your awareness now back to the breath. Notice the characteristics of each inhale and exhale. Notice what has shifted. Perhaps it's feeling a little more grounded, A little softer. Perhaps not. Reflecting on what you've noticed today. What emotions, What sensations came up. And how did it feel to simply allow them to be without needing to change or solve anything right now. Again, Remembering that you can pull this up at any time. This peace, This groundedness. You don't have to engage. In a few moments, We're going to close our practice with a few deep breaths. As we approach that, I invite you to acknowledge this moment of awareness. And mindfulness and presence. Allowing this awareness to come with you today. And for the next few minutes. And the next few hours. Maybe even into tomorrow. When you're ready, Take a deep inhale. Into the belly and the chest. And a long, Slow, Gentle exhale out. One more time. Long, Deep breath in. Low, Gentle exhale. And when you're ready to open your eyes, Remember that you have the capacity to meet whatever arises with care. Feelings are just visitors. Let them come and go.