We are going to take some time today to observe our emotions.
Do you ever have trouble identifying your emotions?
Are there times that you have no idea how you feel in a given situation?
Or times you feel numb and disconnected to how you are feeling?
Or are your emotions so large and overwhelming they engulf you,
Leaving you feeling as if you're drowning in them?
You may respond and act upon emotions before you have time to think it through.
Well today we're going to work on ways to identify and observe our emotions from a safe distance.
We'll learn how to slow them down,
Decrease their intensity,
And learn what they're here to tell us.
So let's begin by taking a deep slow breath in through the nose,
Breathing all the way down to the stomach,
And then slowly releasing the breath.
Very good.
One more time,
Take a deep slow breath,
Feel your stomach expand,
And then slowly release the breath.
Nice job.
Now allow yourself to resume a normal peaceful breath.
And I would like you to imagine that you are sitting on the bank of a river.
Visualize it clearly and take a moment to observe the river and everything around it.
Take in the environment around the river,
The trees,
The ground,
Rocks,
Maybe some ferns and wildflowers.
What do you see when you look around you?
What colors are in the trees,
The grass,
The cliffs?
Where are you sitting and what are you sitting on?
What do you hear around you?
The sound of water moving,
The wind blowing the leaves,
Perhaps some birdsong?
And what do you feel?
What is the temperature?
How does the air feel against your skin?
Are you comfortable?
What do you smell?
Take a deep breath in order to take in all the scents around you.
Very good.
Now let's take a deep breath in through the nose,
Very good.
Now that you have an awareness of your surroundings,
Shift your focus to the river in front of you and take some time to the sight of this river.
How big it is,
How fast it's moving.
This river represents your emotional state.
So the state of the river right now will tell you what your emotional climate is,
Whether it is calm and tranquil,
Violent and fast or something in between.
And you can adjust the state of the river just as you can adjust your own emotional climate.
Take a moment now to make adjustments if you need to so that the river is moving in a way that feels good to you.
If the water is moving rapidly or roughly,
Maybe you work to slow it down,
Calm it down as it too relaxes and becomes more gentle.
Very good.
When the river is ready,
It can bring you the emotions that you are feeling currently or have been feeling most recently.
The emotions will come down along the current,
Stop right in front of you for a moment before they drift on down to be released.
As each emotion comes down,
Take a moment to sit with that emotion.
Allow yourself to feel it.
Ask it why it is there and what it wants you to know.
What is it trying to tell you?
Then thinking about the moment you are feeling it,
Allow it to continue on down the river,
Releasing it.
This may go on for a while if you have many emotions that have not been acknowledged and there may be some emotions that are harder to release than others or do not want to move down the river just yet.
If you have any emotions that you want to know,
Release them others or do not want to move down the river just yet.
And this is all okay.
Every emotional experience is going to be a little different.
There are some emotions that you may need to sit with longer.
There may be more to learn from them or they may have to come back and visit with you over and over for a while before you glean everything from them that they have to tell you.
Take however long you like to sit and observe your emotions,
Hearing what they have to say,
Listening to the messages they have for you and working towards releasing them so they continue to flow down the river.
And you know you can return here anytime you like,
Anytime you have need to spend some time sitting with yourself and with your emotions.
But when you are ready,
You can open your eyes,
You can open your eyes,
Return to full waking consciousness and continue on with your day feeling calm and centered.
