Emotions are what makes us human and we are here to acknowledge it and learn how to develop a healthy relationship with your emotions.
The learning starts by recognizing that you are not your emotions,
You are the experiencer of your emotions and in this practice you will learn how to dis-identify yourself from your emotional state by non-judgmentally experiencing and looking at your emotional state as is.
In this very moment you are experiencing emotion.
If that's helpful,
Feel free to tag this emotion.
Happiness,
Sadness,
Frustration,
Calmness,
Anxiety,
Stress,
Openness,
Fulfillment.
Choose a label that describes your emotional state right now and recognize that from the perspective of awareness it does not matter what this emotion is.
From the perspective of awareness you can experience this emotional state as is in a form of sensations within your body.
Every emotional state can be experienced on the level of the sensations within your body.
So as soon as you find a label for your emotional state,
Switch from the intellectual perception and description of that emotional state to the direct experience of the sensations or the more precise inner sensations that represent this label that has been given by your intellect.
Notice that these inner sensations are what they are.
You are not attempting to change them but you learn to observe them with curiosity.
Observe them from perspective of awareness that doesn't distinguish between the mind description of good,
Bad,
Pleasant,
Unpleasant but accepts everything and all exactly as is.
The shift from cognition to direct experience of emotional state on the level of your physical body.
If you are engaged with the sensations of your body you are indeed in the present moment.
Thoughts can relate to the description of the past,
They can relate to some theoretical future states but the bodily sensations that you are focusing on right now are always in the present moment.
Right now,
Ground yourself in these sensations,
However subtle they may be.
Open yourself to the inner reality of your emotional state as perceived through the lens of your bodily sensations.
Relax into the inner landscape and allow your awareness to explore these states outside of your mind description.
I will give you a moment to explore on your own as I stand by your side to hold the space and I will bring you back when the time is up.
And now it is time to return,
Shift your awareness from the landscape of your inner sensations back to the recognition of your current state.
Integrate your inner experience with the intellectual description of it by recognizing how you feel.
Use one,
Maybe two words to describe your current state and compare it with the state that you started off with in this meditation.
Did you learn anything about your emotions,
About yourself?
Feel free to create a mental note regarding any aspect that you wish to explore further next time.
Right now,
Begin shifting your awareness from intellectual description towards direct experience of your physical senses,
Starting with hearing,
The sound of my voice,
The sound of music,
Your sight,
Brighter and darker spots in front of your closed eyes,
Gentle recognition of your smell and taste even in the absence of the direct stimuli and finally the sense of touch as defined by the boundaries of your physical body that connect you with the space around you.
Feel the separateness of your physical body from the space around you.
Feel your feet on the floor,
Your hands in your lap.
Add a gentle movement by wiggling your toes,
Moving your fingers,
Slow and gentle tilt of your head to the left,
Slow and gentle tilt to the right,
Feeling muscles on the other side of your neck.
Back to the center and end with one deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth and when ready,
Open your eyes and welcome back.
