Hello and welcome to this guided meditation on connecting with your emotional body.
Healing happens when we allow ourselves to feel,
Yet most of us spend our time cramming more things on our endless to-do list,
Leaving little space to pause,
Breathe,
And tune in.
Until,
Of course,
We implode or explode feeling burnt out,
Tired,
And deeply,
Deeply unfulfilled.
We look for instant gratification,
For short-term dopamine fix,
To find ourselves chasing another one soon after.
Short-term solutions to keep escaping what deep down is a wound.
Pain.
We numb the pain and put on a smiling face.
We play our roles well,
But the underlying current runs deep,
And our soul cries out in subtle and not so subtle ways,
Trying to get our attention.
Yet we keep on turning our backs and carrying on as if nothing was happening.
Yet everything is happening in our body temple.
The body knows,
And the body speaks.
Deep down,
We are afraid of facing ourselves.
We are afraid of facing the truth.
We run away and keep ourselves busy.
We find it hard to sit still in silence and solitude,
For that will force us to face our pain.
Pain that has been suppressed,
Repressed,
And bottled.
Feelings that have not been felt.
Energy gets stuck in our joints,
And we can't even sit or breathe properly anymore.
And that is where the healing begins,
When we choose to stay instead of running away.
So today's guided meditation is one of reconnecting with your emotional body,
With the raw,
Real felt sensations that come and go from your vessel.
We spend so much time in our heads on a daily basis.
It's high time we start prioritizing a deeper attunement with our emotional body,
Bridging the gap we've created within.
It is important to be aware of the fact that some parts of this exercise may be uncomfortable.
So before beginning,
I'll guide you to create a safety zone in your mind.
If any aspects of this exercise become too uncomfortable,
You can mentally go to that safety zone for a break.
This particular three-part meditation is a wonderful way to begin to transform the difficult emotions we come across in our lives.
It begins by acknowledging the felt sense of the emotion and introduces a new way of relating to it.
The next step acknowledges and bows to our suffering with this difficult emotion.
And the final steps reminds us that we are not alone in our suffering.
Whatever we are feeling right now,
There are probably hundreds,
If not thousands,
Of people feeling exactly the same way.
This last step helps us shift from I am suffering to the simple fact that there is suffering,
Period.
And as we find inner peace and freedom among our suffering,
We can eventually help others to do the same.
So if you're ready,
Let's begin.
To begin,
Find a comfortable seated position.
Place your hands on your knees or simply rest them in your lap.
Sitting nice and tall,
Gently close your eyes.
Let's first arrive fully in our body and in this very moment.
To drop into the embodied experience of what is present right now.
Feel yourself sitting in the position you're in.
Feel yourself breathing in and out.
Listen to the sounds around you.
Listen to the sound of your breath.
Notice the current state of your mind.
And for now,
Just let everything be as it is.
Become like a mirror,
Allowing your awareness to give a clear and clear picture of what's going on.
Allowing your awareness to give a clear reflection of your body and your life exactly the way they are.
Now take three deep breaths.
Breathing in through the nose.
Exhaling slowly out of the mouth.
As if you are blowing out with a straw.
In through the nose.
Exhale out through the mouth.
Last time,
In through the nose.
Exhale out through the mouth.
Now breathing in deeply into the belly.
Then exhaling out slowly.
Ujjayi breath,
Closing your mouth,
Feeling the sensation in the back of your throat.
Two more of these Ujjayi breaths at your own pace.
Now allow your breathing to settle back into a natural rhythm.
Breathing in and out.
Now let's begin the meditation for this perhaps difficult emotion you are feeling.
In our first part,
Let's bring our hand to the center of our chest.
Choose one hand and place it right in the middle of your sternum.
Feel the warmth of your hand and allow your heart center to soften.
For now,
Simply allow the emotion to be here.
Coming into the felt sensation of it.
Where does it live in your body?
Coming into the felt sensation of it.
Where does it live in your body?
What does it actually feel like?
As you begin to become aware of the sensations of this emotion,
See if you can relax your body around it.
What happens to the feeling when you give up resisting it?
When you fully allow it to be there?
See if you can soften the breathing while you experience it.
Although the emotion may be in contraction,
The rest of your body doesn't have to be.
Moving on to the second phase of our meditation.
Silently tell yourself how difficult it is to feel this emotion.
Let this be an honest reflection on how much this particular emotion causes suffering in your life.
Without adding any judgments or criticisms.
Without adding any judgments or criticism.
We aren't saying,
I hate this stupid emotion,
But rather we are simply being honest.
You might say something like,
When this emotion arises,
It is very difficult for me.
Once you repeat your honest reflection,
Try holding yourself and your emotion with spacious,
Loving awareness.
Notice what it feels like to hold your pain with care rather than resist or struggle with it.
From here,
Let us move to part three.
Cultivating compassion.
As you sit here with this difficult emotion,
Remind yourself that you are not alone.
There are hundreds,
If not thousands of people right now in this very difficult situation.
There are hundreds,
If not thousands of people right now in this very moment feeling exactly as you are.
This difficult emotion is part of being human and you are not alone.
Let your heart open and send out a wish of loving kindness and compassion to all those that are also feeling this emotion.
Let your heart open and send out a wish of loving kindness and compassion to all those that are also feeling this emotion.
Placing a hand on your heart,
You can repeat these following words in your mind or out loud.
May all beings,
Including myself,
Be free from this difficult emotion.
May we find peace and joy in our hearts and minds.
May we learn to let go.
Feel free to send out any wish you want to make it your own.
Send out what you think would nourish you right now in this moment.
Now bring your hand back down to your lap and take one deep breath in the nose and an audible exhale out through the mouth.
Ah Coming down and back grounding into your physical body.
Gently rubbing your thighs with your hands in some loving touch.
Wiggling your fingers and your toes and stretch your neck as well.
Roll the shoulders if that feels good.
Now the next breath in let's inhale reach the arms up up up full body stretch and on your exhale bring the palms together in Anjali mudra as you bring the hands back down to your heart.
Gently take a moment of gratitude for showing up for yourself,
For showing up for this difficult emotion.
Feel free to come back to this meditation whenever you feel a heavy emotion coming up for you.
With continued practice we begin to realize that the way out of our pain is going to be easier.
It's going right through it.
May you have the courage and the strength to see yourself into the fire and stay long enough to alchemize your pain and wounds into your purpose and wisdom.
From my loving hearts to yours.
Namaste
