Welcome.
My name is Renee Bloom.
Thank you for joining me for this practice of mindfulness of emotions.
Letting yourself rest in an upright yet comfortable way.
And when you're ready,
Gently closing your eyes or casting your gaze downward.
Take a few deeper cleansing breaths and then let the breath settle into its natural rhythm.
Notice if there's any obvious tension in the body that you can release easily and do so.
Let the eyes and face be soft.
Release the shoulders and let the arms and hands rest easily.
Let the belly be soft and the breath natural.
And let the heart be soft as well to receive whatever arises with kindness and compassion.
Now with this embodied presence,
Bring a kind and gentle awareness to the breath.
You can notice it as coolness in the nostrils,
Swirling or tingling in the throat,
Or the rise and fall of the chest or belly.
Feel each breath.
And as you allow it,
Invite a sense of calm and ease to grow.
Return gently to the next breath whenever you notice the attention has wandered.
Wandering is a natural process.
No judgment.
Let all other experiences,
Sounds,
Sensations,
Thoughts and images rise and fall like the waves of the ocean around the breath.
After a time,
Become mindful of any emotions that call your attention.
You can bring the same mindful,
Loving awareness to them as you have to the breath.
When an emotion arises,
Let go of attention to the breath and receive the emotion kindly.
It can be helpful to name it softly.
Sad.
Sad.
Or joy.
Or bored.
Bored.
Or anxious.
Anxious.
Or excited.
Excited.
As you attend to the emotion,
Notice carefully where you feel it in your body.
Also notice how it feels as a constellation of sensations.
How does it respond to kind awareness?
Does it dissolve or get stronger?
Does it change into another emotion?
Notice this too.
You are the space of loving awareness that can kindly notice emotions as they come and go.
You are the space of loving awareness that can kindly notice emotions as they come and go.
If you feel resistance to contacting the emotion or if it feels very strong,
Notice the story that the mind tells along with the feelings in your body,
Acknowledging it kindly.
Then let this be in the background and again bring a gentle presence to the emotion.
When the emotion has changed or dissolved,
Return back to awareness of the breath for a time.
Now you can include emotions in your loving awareness as well as attending to the breath and body.
They come and go and you are becoming the calm,
Steady witness,
Acknowledging them without getting caught by each one.
Meaning in mindful loving awareness,
You become gradually more open,
Balanced and free.
Let's take one sentence.
