Opening Up To Emotions

So,

Welcome to this exercise called Opening Up to Emotions.

In this exercise we're going to deliberately practice a different way of being with an emotion that sometimes you usually end up struggling with.

So in this exercise we're going to think about an emotion,

A painful emotion or feeling that sometimes you have difficulties with.

It could be sadness,

Anxiety,

Loneliness or anger or any other feeling that you get unhelpfully caught up with.

In this exercise I'm going to ask you to think back to a time where you felt that feeling.

And because this may be your first practice I'm going to suggest that we start easy.

So begin with a time where you felt the feeling was present but not overwhelming.

If at any time during this practice you do feel overwhelmed then please stop and take some time to relax before trying this exercise again.

So we're going to start off by coming into a nice comfortable sitting position.

Maybe with a straight back,

Embodying a sense of dignity but also taking a pose that is calm and flexible and relaxed.

And now you can close your eyes and turn your attention inwards.

The first thing we're going to do,

We're going to take one nice deep breath through our nose and a really nice long out breath through our mouth.

And we're going to do that one more time.

We're going to take a nice deep breath in through our nose and a longer out breath through our mouth.

And really try to notice what releases for you on that out breath.

Now I just want you to bring a nice light awareness to your breathing and the cycle of your breathing.

Just be aware of the continuous nature of your breathing because though in a sense your breathing is divided into an in breath and an out breath.

If you pay attention there's just no point where you're not actually having some sensation of breathing.

So just bring your attention to that cycle of your breathing and paying attention to the transition between an out breath and an in breath.

And while you're doing that you can become aware of your weight of your body on your seat and the force of gravity pulling you down into your chair or onto your cushion and just really feel the weight of your body and its contact with the ground.

Just pay attention how your body expands on the in breath and you can feel the cool air rushing down into your lungs and down deep into your diaphragm.

And pay attention of how the air now releases from your body and your body slightly collapses and you also slightly relax on every out breath.

Just spend a couple of breaths just noticing everything you can about your breathing.

Notice how your chest expands,

How your shoulders move,

How their arms move resting against your thighs.

There's actually a lot about your breathing you can pay attention to.

And so now I'm going to ask you to think back to the time that you felt the feeling that you struggled with.

And just see if you can picture yourself in the situation where you felt that difficult feeling and try to imagine looking out from your own eyes remembering what the situation was like,

Where you were,

What time of day was it,

Who was there with you.

Just spend a few moments now really getting absorbed in that situation.

And just try to remember it in as much detail as you can.

Now I'm going to ask you to do something that perhaps you wouldn't normally do.

Now direct your attention inwards and notice how you're feeling.

And really spend some time observing this feeling with a sense of curiosity like you've never felt this feeling before.

And if and when any judgements about this feeling arise just see for now if you can set them aside.

And notice any urges to change this feeling and see too if you can set those aside just for now.

If your mind gets lost in a thought and you're taken away from this exercise and recreating this feeling then that's okay.

Just with a sense of kindness and compassion come back to the exercise and notice the feeling and where exactly in your body this feeling is located.

Is it noted?

Is it in one place or is it in several?

Just try to identify where in your body you can feel this feeling.

And now what I want you to try and do is just see if you can imagine this feeling as an object.

How big is it?

What kind of texture does it have?

Is it smooth or rough,

Heavy or light?

Does it have a colour?

Does it have an edge or is it diffuse?

Notice if it moves or fluctuates.

If it had a sound,

What sound would it be?

In a few moments now just imagine this difficult feeling or emotion as an object and see if you can imagine it in as much detail as you can.

We're not trying to change it in any way.

We're not trying to change this emotion anyway,

We're just trying to be really curious and turn it into an object and represent this emotion inside of us as an object.

Now imagine that we can move this object outside of your body.

So I want you to take the object and move it outside of you and hover it in your mind's eye in front of you.

And now it sits there hovering in front of you.

I want you to try and get a sense of it.

I want you to examine it with a sense of curiosity as it floats there.

See if you can rotate it to view it from another perspective.

Maybe you can move below it or above it.

Maybe you can zoom in or zoom out.

Maybe you can really look at the surface.

Is it rough?

Is it smooth?

Does it make a sound now it's outside your body?

Is it one colour or is it several?

Does it change colours?

Again,

We're not trying to get rid of it or change this object.

Just for now,

All you need to do is bring a sense of awareness to it and allow it to be there.

Spend a bit of time just rotating the object,

Looking at it from all angles.

We get to know it and understand it.

And now what I want you to do,

And probably the most difficult part of this exercise,

We're going to in a moment bring the object back inside of us.

We can't change this object.

We can't get rid of it.

It's part of us.

It's our experience.

So see if you can welcome it back into your body,

Perhaps as you would welcome an old friend with a sense of openness and acceptance.

So I just want you to get in touch with that sense of being for yourself as you sit here with your eyes closed.

Just get in touch with that sense of I am.

And what I want you to do is you bring the object back into your body.

I want you to breathe in and feel your sense of presence expand around the object.

When you breathe out,

Your sense of presence slightly collapses.

I want you to do that again.

I want you to breathe in up and around the object so you get a lot of space around it and maybe just collapse slightly.

And again,

Breathe in,

Making space around this object and this difficult emotion.

And then breathe out and slightly collapse.

And now what I want you to do is just sit and focus on your breathing.

And also just bring an awareness of what's going on for you right now into your body.

Just notice the emotions and sensations that you have.

Just bring a sense of curiosity towards them without any judgment or expectations.

Just sit with this feeling,

This difficult feeling that you sometimes struggle with.

And now what I want you to do is just bring an awareness now to your body and your presence sat on the seat and the weight of your body on the seat.

Bring an awareness of the air touching your skin.

And bring an awareness of the light behind your eyelids.

And then when you're ready,

You can take one deep breath in through your nose and a nice long out breath through your mouth.

You can gently open your eyes and come back to the room.