Sitting As Emotion (Emotional Healing Through Acceptance)

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Sitting As Emotion (Emotional Healing Through Acceptance)

by Corin Bryant

Rated

5

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

7

In this guided meditation we practice an acceptance so deep that even the emotions we usually resist simply become a beautiful and natural life energy, still intense and vivid but no longer a source of suffering. Here we upgrade the practice of sitting 'with' emotions to sitting 'as' emotions, allowing emotion to be a raw sensation without resistance or avoidance.

Emotional Healing Acceptance Meditation Emotional Awareness Mindfulness Embodiment Emotion Naming

Meet your Teacher

Exmouth, UK

Meet your Teacher

Exmouth, UK

Transcript

You may already be practicing sitting with emotions. This is good. Very powerful. We can deepen this practice even further and therefore deepen healing by practicing sitting as the emotion. So first, Finding yourself in a comfortable position in a space where you feel you most likely won't be disturbed and go immediately to the current emotion. Be very aware of the current emotional world. It can help to name the emotion that you are feeling. Allow emotion to come to the front, Allowing emotion to emerge out of the background of your experience and allowing emotion to rise into prominence. It is okay to feel. Even the emotions that we ordinarily find distressing or uncomfortable, Just for this time, Try total acceptance. Just allow it to be. Let all other elements of your experience fall into the background of your awareness. Your sense perceptions, The outside world, All of the contents of the mind. Just treat all of those things as irrelevant and become more interested in whichever emotion it is that you are currently feeling in the here and now. In this way, We are giving ourselves permission to truly feel deeply. It can be powerful to name the emotion that you're currently feeling, As often emotions can be quite mysterious. They can be quite vague. So don't allow yourself to be vague. Really get to know the precise emotion that you are feeling. Often this can be a surprise. We think we are feeling angry, But we're actually afraid. We think we're feeling sad, But we're actually feeling grief. We think we're feeling fear, But we're actually feeling excitement. This is a fascinating ability of emotions to be like chameleons. So really get to know exactly what it is you are feeling. By naming it. And here beginning a very powerful acceptance practice by simply stating the fact that you are feeling this emotion without judgment, Without analysis, Without forming opinions, Just stating, I am, And then the following emotion. So if you are sad, You would simply state, I am sad. If you are feeling fear, You would state, I am afraid. If you are grieving, You can state, I am grieving. This is a simple, Anchoring, Grounding statement of truth. Allowing yourself to fully feel this emotion and begin to completely disregard whatever the mind has to say about it. Notice that the mind might say, This is unbearable, Or this is too painful, Or I wish this emotion was different, But we're not interested in what the mind has to say. Instead, We're interested in the feeling of the emotion itself. So disregard the mind with all of its shoulds and should nots. Forget that, Instead go to the fact, The reality of your current experience, Just the emotion as it is. And notice that without the mind interfering, The emotion itself, The raw, Pure sensation of the emotion is actually very simple. It can be intense, But it's very simple. It's a raw energy, An unprocessed material. Just allow yourself to feel it. And this is the healing, Just feeling raw, Pure emotion. How does it feel in the present moment? As best you can, Try to relax into this, Even if it's an emotion like fear or rage. These emotions might at first seem impossible to relax into, But with practice you find this is possible. Just relax the body, Allow your breathing to slow down. And simply allowing yourself to feel whichever emotion it is that you're feeling, Without resistance, Without avoidance. We find that actually the body can relax into this, All is well. Don't try to change anything. Don't even try to frame or categorize this feeling. Just feel. Have zero distance between your awareness and the emotion. Allow the gravitational pull of this feeling to draw you in until there is no separation. And in this present moment, Fully relaxed, Fully safe and secure, Finding you have this incredible capacity to feel any and all emotion, Even the ones usually so distressing. It's all right. It's all right. Let go. Of all narratives, All stories, All memories, All imagination, All prediction, Just let go. We are not interested in this chatter and noise of the mind. Instead, We are interested in having a pure, Direct contact of experiencing emotion. Now, Embodying this emotion entirely, Be as though there are no other human beings. So the planet is completely empty. So you don't have to relate this emotion to another person. And see how that changes the feeling. If there were no other people, Would that change the experience of this emotion? And if there was no past, And if somehow all of your memories were wiped, Would that change the way this emotion is felt? So it's as though this is the very first time you've ever felt this emotion. You just sprang into existence right now. You have no reference point, No concept of past or future, Just this moment. Everything is new, Everything is fresh. What's the emotion like now? There's no implications, No complications, And there's no judgment. All emotions are innocent and natural. They're meant to be here. Just feeling this in this moment, And finding it's perfectly fine, Actually. It's just another element of experience, Something to notice. And that is all. There's no story. You're not broken. You haven't done anything wrong. All is well. The emotion itself is perfectly tolerable. It's the story we attach to it that causes suffering. Particularly the story of you. That story attaches opinions and analysis, Preference and judgment. And instead, Just be without any of that. Just experience the intense, Raw, Vibrating energy. You are safe to do this. Now, Feeling this emotion, As though this particular emotion was actually the entire universe. There's nothing outside of it. It's as though this emotion has expanded and is now everything. And just be this. So there is nothing to do to it. There is nothing to do with it. It just is. So just let it be. Feel the relief of this. The relaxation that occurs, Not from getting rid of the emotion or burying. Not by burying it, But by going towards it and accepting it. In a moment, We will be leaving the formal aspect of this meditation. But feel free to continue to practice these principles, Even in daily life. You will find it has a remarkable effect on your emotional well-being. Thank you for doing this meditation with me today. Take care. Be well. And stay present.