Accepting Sadness

Welcome to this shared space where we work through, understand, + start to accept + acknowledge our sadness. Knowing that we're human + having human experiences we start to say hello to the parts of ourselves that we keep hidden + welcome our sadness with a hug.

Transcript

Welcome to this shared space between you and I.

And as I sit here recording this this evening,

Something I am sitting with is a feeling of sadness and emptiness.

And I don't feel that this is something that's talked about too much in this space.

And often we hear and speak of gratitude and happiness and enjoying life and life's gifts.

And we do.

But I think that it's important that we also recognize that your sadness is part of the human experience and it's okay to feel that way.

It's okay to have moments,

Weeks,

Years of trouble and struggle and hurt and loneliness and all of the things that go along with that.

So I want to guide you into this meditation from that space.

And I want you to know that that is a collective experience.

It's not a singular thing.

It's not a just you thing.

It is something that we all go through.

So if you haven't experienced a session with me before,

Been here with me before,

I want you to know that I'm very open to and I like choice.

So I want you to sit or lay down whatever one of those works for you and whatever one feels correct and right and good in your body.

So if that's laying down and you have some supports underneath you,

If you cover up,

If you become warm and cozy,

If you need the support of a wall,

Whatever a chair,

Please find that,

You know,

And know that the choice is yours.

And when you land in whatever that choice is,

Let's find an exhalation together and start to exhale it out of your mouth.

And just notice your nose,

Tip of your nose and your nostrils.

And start to breathe it in.

Another exhale out of your mouth.

And I want you just to see if you can allow a softness,

An expressionlessness just drape across your face.

Can you find something that just allows your,

Your face to soften and you're in this place of neutrality?

How much space can you get into the skin of your face,

Your eyes,

Your jaw,

Your teeth,

Your gums,

Your chin,

Temples,

Forehead space?

What would it be like to be completely expressionless?

There's no energy and there's no energy and there's no effort here.

We start to settle in.

And the mind starts going as it does.

And if your mind is going with anything at this moment that isn't specific to this time together,

See if you can just allow it to kindly scoot out.

Just let it go to the side a little bit,

Push it away.

Let it let it drift off.

And come back to the space that you've created for yourself.

Come back here,

Knowing you're in this meditation,

Knowing that you chose this session,

Where we get to reflect on and work through your experiences in sadness.

And let's take an exhale.

And an in breath.

See if you could send this all the way to your belly button space.

You're breathing so deep into your body,

All the way down,

As if there was lungs all the way down to your hips.

Exhale,

Let it go out of your mouth.

In breath,

All the way in.

Take it as low as you can possibly go.

Take it in towards your hip bones,

As if your lungs were going to expand all the way down.

Exhale out of your mouth.

Inhale.

Exhale.

And it's time to start to reflect a little bit here.

What brought you to this session?

And only you will know if it's something that is current.

Is it a feeling that is showing itself to you at this very moment?

Is it a feeling that you're familiar with?

Is it something from a little while ago?

Or is it something from a long time ago?

And there can be more than one source of this feeling,

Of sadness,

Of hurt,

Of grief.

And maybe it's one thing.

And just see what needs identifying.

See if it's showing itself to you in one individual thing.

Or is it showing itself to you in all of these little threads that start to build in your mind of what this sadness is and where it comes from?

And maybe it's a feeling that you're familiar with.

What is it showing you?

What is it there for?

What is the purpose?

And what about it makes you feel sad?

Lost?

Empty?

Lonely?

Upset?

What about it?

What is the reason that that specific thing makes you feel that way?

Because this.

Because I wish this.

Because it should have been this.

And only you know why.

Only you know what that is.

Why it's there.

Why it matters.

And can you give it full acknowledgement?

Can you give it full recognition?

You can even say hello to this.

This repeated pattern,

Thought,

This worry,

This issue.

You know,

Have you been carrying around this sadness on your back in a backpack and carrying it around?

And can you just say,

Hi,

You're here because,

Because this.

See if your face has taken on some expression.

Allow your face to drop with a soft exhalation.

Keep saying hello.

Keep acknowledging.

And can you start to recognize through your acceptance and acknowledging that slowly it may seem a little less heavy.

You know,

Because this feeling,

This upset,

This sadness is something that you might keep close,

And you might even keep tucked away.

And there's great healing in that acknowledging.

There's great healing in speaking to,

Saying hello,

And accepting that that's there.

And though this specific sadness might go away,

There are more coming.

There are more there.

And that's the way to go.

There are more coming.

There are more there.

And that's the way that it is.

But can you start to recognize that this is part of the human experience.

That this is very normal and very human.

To have a whole range of feelings.

To not need to be anything else but what you feel in that moment,

This moment,

Any moment.

And that your sadness,

For whatever it is that makes you feel that way,

Has just as much of a place and a seat at the table as your joy and all of the other emotions that are widely accepted.

This is not one that you need to push away.

This one needs a greater welcoming than your happiness does.

This one needs a welcoming,

A seeing.

This one needs a hug to be brought in close,

Much closer than your happiness needs or does.

So can you give it a little squeeze?

Let it know that you feel it,

And you see it,

And you're with it,

And you're not separate from it.

Let it know that you're here with it.

And that you honor the place that it comes from.

That there's a love in your sadness.

That there's a love in your sadness,

Too.

See if you can give yourself space and grace.

Can you gift yourself with understanding and compassion?

And compassion.

Can you gift yourself with ahimsa?

In yoga,

Ahimsa is here for non-harming.

Compassion.

And can you gift yourself with that principle?

With the compassion,

When you know the reason,

The root,

The place that this feeling,

This emotion that is not widely accepted comes from.

You feel this because of this.

You feel this because of this.

And that's okay.

That's okay.

It's okay.

Hold it close.

Hold it with you.

Carry it with you.

Use the acknowledgement of that feeling to support yourself and others.

Knowing that nothing is separate.

If you feel it,

I feel it.

If I feel it,

You feel it.

If you feel it,

I feel it.

If I feel it,

You have felt it.

Give yourself space.

Give yourself softness.

Find a soft exhalation.

Soft in-breath.

Soft out-breath.

And take a little bit of time to just be with it.

Start to notice the in-breath.

And with a deep love of the full emotional body,

Find your out-breath.

And stay with the breaths.

Stay with them.

Notice them.

Breathe them in.

Breathe them out.

Stay gentle with the self.

Gentle in the body.

Gentle in the sensations of the body.

Your fingers,

Your toes,

Your legs,

Your arms,

Your face,

Your skin,

Your muscles,

Your heart,

The space around your heart,

Your mind,

Everything up there.

And know that you are doing so good.

You are here.

You are in the moment.

And know that you are doing so good.

You are here.

You took this time,

This mindful moment.

Know that that means something.

Know that you can honor that.

Give yourself a little bit of love in that.

Some props for showing up.

That's already massive.

And that's already enough.

It is enough.

It is enough.

It's enough.

It's enough.

If you would like to stay here in this space,

Please stay here in this space.

Make it yours.

Allow it to be yours.

If you feel that you need to shift,

You can.

Everything is up to you and your choice on what you feel.

I will close practice from this space.

So if you're happy to continue in your shape,

You stay.

If you need the movement and you want to close from a different position,

You are welcome to find that.

I want to thank you so much for being here and sharing this practice space with me.

It's a deep honor to teach these practices,

This lineage,

The teachings of yoga,

The teachings of stillness,

The teachings of slowing down,

The teachings of love and kindness for you and for others.

And for that and for you being here,

I thank you.

Thank you.