Find a posture where you can feel awake and alert and also at ease and relaxed.
Finding both a presence of dignity and restfulness.
And then maybe with a couple cycles of breath,
Allowing your body to relax into whatever posture you've taken.
Feeling the muscles in your face soften.
And your shoulders and hands.
Settling into presence here.
And as we move into this practice,
See if you can sense into your primary feeling state.
Noticing your general mood right now.
Whether it's pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Or neutral.
Simply noticing what's there.
And then bringing your attention to your anchor.
Resting maybe in the flow of your breathing.
Touch points in your body,
Maybe your hands or your seat.
Or anchoring on the sounds in the room around you.
Notice how sounds,
Sensations,
Thoughts,
And emotions rise and fall in the background.
These waves around your anchor.
And sensing that you're the ocean that holds them all.
You might invite your anchor to shift to the background now.
And we'll begin to bring our awareness to the range of emotions,
These human emotions,
Or our secondary feeling states as they arise.
When you notice an emotion,
You might name it gently.
Tired,
Joyful,
Restless,
Sad,
Or calm.
Allowing it to be there for some time and noticing how your emotions express themselves.
See if you can sense into your body,
Paying attention to your belly,
Your heart,
And your throat.
When the emotion passes or becomes less compelling,
You can return your attention back to your anchor for a time.
Until the next emotion arises.
You might notice that an emotion arises and stays for a little while and then passes away.
They might come one at a time or in groups of emotions.
You might notice that one emotion leads into another,
Like curiosity to boredom.
Or you might notice that there's a lot of space between your emotions.
Whatever emotion is there right now,
See if you can notice it without judgement and without grasping.
Letting it arise and letting it pass away.
You might also notice that there isn't much to feel,
And this too can be included in your loving awareness.
Feeling numb or feeling blank.
If there's a strong storyline that's arising with your emotions,
You can just note the thought that is there.
And then relax back to the emotion,
Seeing if you can stay connected with the feeling itself in your body.
