This is a 15-minute befriending emotions practice.
This is a lightly guided meditation,
Meaning there will be times where there is talking and times where it's quiet.
In those quiet times,
Open up to and lean into the practice as best you can.
Begin by taking your meditation seat,
Sitting up nice and tall and straight as is comfortable for you and your body,
Welcoming a sense of wakefulness,
Attention,
Feet on the floor.
If you can,
Invite your hands to some stillness on the legs or lap,
Wherever they happen to fall,
Allowing the eyes to close again if that's comfortable for you.
You may choose to have the eyes open just a little bit,
A soft gaze at whatever is before you.
And tuning into what is felt in the body,
Contact with the chair,
Temperature of the room,
Clothing on skin or just the bottoms of your feet on the floor,
Whatever it happens to be,
Noticing what it's like to inhabit this body,
Checking in rather than checking out.
And taking your meditation seat with the heart and mind as well,
Aware that emotions will show up and come and go as thoughts will show up and come and go.
When you find the mind has wandered off,
Just acknowledge that moment and return to the practice.
Bringing your awareness to your home base,
That comfortable experience that's happening right now that welcomes you to presence in this moment.
It might be sensations of breathing,
Wherever you feel it most in your body as you take in air and let it go moment by moment.
Guide your attention to where you feel that process happening the most,
Where that's the most vivid for you.
It might be movement in the belly or chest or back,
Warmth or coolness by the tip of your nose.
And if you find that breathing is very subtle,
You can place a hand on your stomach and literally get in touch with that slight movement as you breathe.
And if you find that breathing is not such a comfortable experience for you,
It's perfectly fine to choose a different home base.
You get to decide that.
You can listen to sounds or silence in your environment if that's more supportive for you.
Home base is not about the breath.
It's about experiencing this present moment comfortably in a supported way.
So get reacquainted with your home base for a few moments.
Notice what it's like and when attention wanders,
Welcome it back.
When you're ready,
Warming up your capacity to direct your attention by turning it towards your emotions,
The heart.
This ongoing process of emotions telling us about our internal environment and the environment around us.
First,
Just a light check in,
A gentle peek into what emotions might be present here now.
How are you doing?
What do you feel?
There is no wrong answer to this curiosity about emotions.
This is exercising your capacity to notice and be with whatever happens to be present.
One moment a joy,
Another sadness.
As with the body,
Maybe an itch or a sense of lightness.
Noting each emotion as it shows up and makes itself known with some gentleness.
And be as specific as you can.
How would you name that emotion?
This is a practice of tag and release.
Noticing what the emotion is,
Acknowledging it,
Perhaps giving it a name and letting it go.
Letting it go can be as fundamental as returning to home base,
Always supporting you as you observe and experience each emotion moment as it shows up and as it moves on.
And noticing that sometimes emotion will turn away from emotions.
Mind may wander into thoughts about emotions.
And that too is an experience to be acknowledged and let go of.
So if you notice thinking about emotions,
Redirect your attention to feeling the emotion.
And taking care of yourself,
Not getting overwhelmed,
Sometimes allowing yourself to be challenged.
If you find it's surprising,
Perhaps getting to be a bit too much,
Come back to home base.
Inhabit this breath or this moment of listening.
Center yourself and when you're ready,
Turn again towards emotions.
And if you need to,
Stop the meditation entirely.
Do something else and come back to it later.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Aware,
Tuned in.
What is it like to be as open as you can with emotions?
Noticing how what shows up may influence how you're feeling in this moment.
And notice too any judgments about performance and how it should be.
Also something to let go of.
There's no wrong answer here and it may be a new skill to look at,
Observe and experience emotions moment by moment in this way.
Welcome any kindness,
Any gentleness to yourself in this process.
When a happiness shows up,
Notice that and let it go.
When irritation or sadness may show up,
Notice it,
Experience it and let it go.
Receiving whatever the emotional state is without filtering,
Without judging.
Not holding on to pleasant emotions and pushing away unpleasant,
But receiving all just as they are as best you can.
Noticing if there's an understandable habit of withdrawing from unpleasant or difficult emotions.
They're not wrong emotions.
They may be unwanted,
May be difficult,
But they're not wrong.
They're just emotions.
And you can decide how to work with them.
Being curious about what they're telling you about your environment.
And perhaps choosing to make space for some of the emotions that otherwise may be hidden or quiet,
Listening closely with your heart to hear those too.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Home base still supporting you.
And whatever emotion is allowing itself to be present in this moment,
Whatever you're experiencing of it is,
Letting that go and bringing attention back to home base and inhabiting this body in this moment.
What's it like to land back in home base?
This breath,
This experience of listening,
Whatever it happens to be for you.
Returning and landing lightly again in this moment with mindful presence.
And gently checking in.
What showed up?
What is something you would like to remember,
A takeaway from this practice?
And allowing some kindness,
Some self-compassion here too.
Turning towards emotions can be surprising,
Can be challenging.
It may not be a way we're used to experiencing emotions on a daily basis.
So give yourself some grace,
Some space,
A little kindness in whatever may have been found.
The joys,
The sadnesses,
The irritations,
The enthusiasm,
Whatever it happens to have been.
Perhaps a little space for gratitude to yourself for doing this practice.
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes and move on with the rest of your day.
That concludes this practice.
Thank you for your dedication and your time.
