Welcome to the Daily Insight.
My name is Julian Lacay.
I'm a clinical psychologist and a mindfulness teacher here on Insight Timer.
In today's meditation,
You'll be guided in cultivating your emotional intelligence by slowing down,
Tuning in,
And getting in touch with what it is that you might need deep down in order to support your well-being.
To begin,
See if you can give yourself the permission to stop whatever it was you were doing and simply spend the next 10 minutes being with yourself fully,
Finding a place where you won't be interrupted,
And where you'll have some privacy.
Allow your body to settle and find a comfortable position.
Softening the gaze or closing the eyes if you feel comfortable doing so.
And taking a moment now to get in touch with something that has been troubling you lately.
Bringing to mind any difficulties in your relationships,
At home or at work,
Or maybe even with yourself.
Making sure to choose a difficulty that is within your capacity to tolerate and to work with.
As you get in contact with this difficulty,
Bringing awareness to how it is that you feel,
Ask yourself,
What is it like inside?
What do I feel in my body?
And bring attention to sensations that are showing up in the body.
Maybe you're noticing urges to react in certain ways.
Taking a moment to just investigate and be with these sensations and urges.
As you contact these sensations and urges,
Also notice what kind of activity is happening in the mind.
See if you can take a step back and notice the types of thoughts that are around.
Now that you have a sense of how you feel in your body and what's going on through your mind,
You have the basic building blocks to put together the emotions that you're feeling.
Ask yourself,
What emotion is here?
Listen to the following emotional labels and see which fits best.
Perhaps you're noticing sadness,
Loneliness,
Or hurt.
Perhaps hopelessness or helplessness.
Maybe you're noticing anger or resentment,
Contempt or disgust,
Fear or anxiety,
Or maybe shame or guilt.
Choosing the label that resonates most with your experience.
And if you're not sure,
Taking your best guess for now.
And just acknowledging this emotion for a few moments.
As you stay with the felt sense of this emotion,
See if you can tune in to what your emotion is trying to tell you about what it is that you're needing and that is currently unmet.
For example,
If you feel anxious,
Perhaps you need comfort or soothing.
If you feel sad or lonely,
Maybe you need contact and closeness.
If you feel shame,
Perhaps you might need validation.
If you feel angry and resentful,
You may need protection.
And if you're feeling hurt,
Maybe you need nurturing and healing.
See if you can stay in close contact with the emotion in your body as you listen in for the need.
As you stay in contact with the emotions that are alive in you and the needs that they signal,
See if you can now turn your attention to the most important unmet need of yours.
Take a moment to reflect on what it is that is in your control that you can do to move towards getting this need met.
Reflecting on this as you keep your attention on the emotion in your body.
For example,
You might say to yourself,
What can I do to meet my need for closeness?
Or,
What is in my control to fulfill my life with more appreciation?
And if the need is not totally clear,
Maybe more generally asking yourself,
What can I do to help myself?
See if it's possible for you to stay in this reflection without having to find a definite answer.
Just asking the question and noticing what shows up.
At this point,
If the course of action for meeting your need remains unclear,
That's okay.
The invitation is to keep this reflection alive in you as you go about your day and perhaps returning to this meditation at a later point.
If you do have some ideas or intuitions about ways you might move in a direction of meeting your needs,
Seeing if you can hold this as an intention for the day.
Keeping in mind that your first attempts might not be successful and that this is an ongoing process.
So as this meditation comes to an end,
Coming back to sensing into your entire body.
Noticing sounds in your environment.
Allowing the eyes to open if they were closed.
And finding some movement in the body.
And keeping some awareness of your emotions and needs as you go about your day.
