Mindfulness Meditations guided by Una Keeley,
Professional MBSOR,
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Instructor 20 minute Awareness of Emotions meditation In this mindfulness practice we're practicing turning into what we are feeling.
So beginning by making ourselves comfortable.
Allowing yourself to settle into the seat.
And allowing the seat to support your intention to do this practice and to support the body as you practice.
So sensing the stability of the seat underneath you.
And making any of the subtle adjustments that you may need so as you can come into a place of stillness.
Perhaps if it feels comfortable for you closing your eyes or lowering your gaze and beginning to turn the attention towards breathing.
So beginning to sense breathing happening in this moment.
And seeing where breathing is revealing itself to you in your body on the level of sensation.
Where you're noticing breathing is happening.
And allowing the attention to rest here on the sensation of breathing happening.
The full in-breath and the full out-breath.
And now when you're ready we're going to raise the hand and place it over the heart.
So gently resting the palm of the hand on the chest area just over the heart.
And as we do this the nervous system in the body naturally begins to change.
So we're offering a calm compassionate touch.
And allowing ourselves to sense this from the palm of the hand and then the chest area and the heart area.
And now beginning to shift the focus and turning the awareness back towards breathing and the anchor of breathing.
The sensation of breathing in the body.
Perhaps feeling the chest area rising and falling.
Perhaps feeling the belly area expanding and contracting.
So just practicing being with breathing.
And now inviting ourselves to begin to notice,
To begin to become aware of what emotion is present here in this moment.
Through this practice we're learning to check in on ourselves.
So noticing and becoming aware of what emotion is showing itself to you as we turn towards our internal weather pattern.
Perhaps you might notice that there's no particular emotion showing itself to you.
Or perhaps as you do this maybe there's a subtle sense of worry,
Maybe some irritation.
Perhaps becoming aware of a little bit of underlying sadness.
Perhaps there's a sense of boredom,
Maybe frustration.
So seeing what's present here for you now in this moment.
And practicing allowing it to be here and just acknowledging it.
Sometimes as we do this we may notice that there's more than one emotion present.
Perhaps there's a palette of emotions present.
Perhaps there's a number of emotions popping up and revealing themselves to you.
Perhaps it's a mix of emotions.
So if you're noticing a few different emotions showing themselves turning into perhaps just one or two of them.
The ones that are revealing themselves the most.
The ones that seem to be most prominent.
The ones that are taking up most of the attention.
So in doing this we're not searching.
We're not striving.
We're not forcing.
We're letting the emotions reveal themselves in this moment.
And now we're going to practice labeling the emotion.
And we're going to practice a little bit of non-identification with the emotion.
So instead of saying to ourselves I'm sad or I'm frustrated.
Realizing and seeing how it feels to say there is sadness present or there's frustration present.
So we're practicing naming the emotion.
Acknowledging that it is present but not making it personal.
So instead of I'm anxious perhaps saying ah this anxiety present.
So acknowledging that this emotion is present.
It has arisen.
It's here.
And in its own time it will move on.
And now we're going to practice moving between the emotion and the breath.
So beginning now to shift the attention back towards breathing.
So letting the emotion drift into the background of our attention and shifting our awareness to the sensation of breathing happening.
In this moment.
And allowing the awareness to rest with the sensation of breathing happening in the body in this moment.
And when you're ready we're going to practice moving the awareness now back from the sensation of breathing back towards the emotion.
And this time noticing where we feel it in the body.
So letting go of the narrative.
Letting go of the thinking around the emotion and seeing now if we can practice moving into the sensation of where it's present in the body where it's showing itself where it's revealing itself.
Perhaps there may be stiffness somewhere in the body.
Perhaps muscles might be a little bit tense.
Perhaps you're noticing tingling or heat.
Perhaps a sense of coolness or a sense of numbness.
And we're practicing just acknowledging it allowing it to be and acknowledging it.
And then when you're ready beginning now to move back towards the breathing.
So again letting go of the emotion letting go of the sensation of the emotion allowing that to drift into the background and bringing the attention now back to the sensation of breathing happening in the body in this moment.
So practicing being with the full in breath and the full out breath.
And now we're going to begin experimenting with allowing the inner voice to say I am anxious I am sad I'm fearful I'm frustrated.
And then allowing the inner voice to say there is anxiety present.
There is fear present.
There's sadness present.
And shifting between these two ways of acknowledging and sensing any subtle inner difference that this makes.
And perhaps noticing when we say there is anxiousness present or there's fear present the sadness present when we acknowledge it in this way perhaps noticing a little bit of spaciousness that arises around the sensation of this emotion.
And now beginning to return the attention back towards breathing.
Allowing this breath and allowing the body to soften allowing the shoulder area to soften allowing the palms of the hands to soften.
And then bringing the awareness down to the soles of the feet.
And sensing the soles of the feet coming in contact with the inner lining of your shoes perhaps the floor the mat the block.
And allowing this contact and the sensation of this contact to be the focus of the attention.
And practicing just breathing with this.
So allowing the floor to support you to support the feet to support the body.
And now moving the awareness up to the sensation of the contact of the body with the chair.
And sensing this support.
Seeing the body being held and supported by the chair and by the floor.
And if your hand is still over your heart allowing it to come down and rest in the lap.
And taking three full breaths so full deep breaths.
Allowing the lungs to completely fill and if it feels right you can make a sound on the exhale.
Or perhaps just silence on the exhale whatever feels right for you.
And when the bells ring you can begin to gently open your eyes and gently allow the body to begin moving and move forward in your day knowing that you've given yourself time to acknowledge your emotions and nurture your well-being by doing this practice.
