Take a moment to allow your body to settle into a comfortable position.
Close your eyes or if it's more comfortable,
Keep them slightly open and relax your gaze.
Begin by taking a full breath in and a long slow breath out.
Feel yourself seated and present in this moment.
It's common to want to avoid feeling our negative emotions.
Doing whatever we can to try to avoid feeling.
Feeling stressed,
Overwhelmed,
Scared,
Angry or insecure doesn't feel good.
And if something doesn't feel good,
We often find ourselves avoiding the feeling.
Whatever the feeling is,
We don't like it and avoid feeling it at all costs.
This avoidance mechanism might be eating when we're not really hungry,
Mindlessly scrolling through social media or choosing to be overly busy to avoid hard,
Difficult discussions in a relationship or other things to distract us from what we're feeling.
Instead of avoiding your emotions,
What if you chose to acknowledge them,
Greet them and got to know them and possibly befriend them.
Through the process of feeling your emotions,
You will come to know yourself at a deeper level and also be able to connect with others more profoundly,
Including your child.
Being able to compassionately respond to your child's discomforts will help them approach life in healthy ways.
You see,
Our children are constantly learning from us,
Watching our every move,
Seeing and learning how we respond to life's challenges.
When we practice meeting our emotions head on,
We are teaching our child how to do the same.
Instead of avoiding feelings of discomfort,
What if we could make room for the discomfort,
Welcome it and meet it with a caring presence.
When difficult emotions arise,
Start by naming the emotion.
Don't fall into the story of it.
Just recognize how the mind and body feel at that moment.
Ask if there is anger,
Sadness,
Fear,
Frustration,
Disappointment or something else.
Just notice the general tone and experience of what you are feeling in that moment.
Then,
Describe how it feels in your body.
Where do you feel it?
How does it feel?
Does it have a color or a shape?
Remember your intention to care for the pain rather than push it away.
Be with it.
Breathe with it.
Ride it like a wave.
You won't be with it forever.
Begin by making space for the emotion,
By offering yourself a few phrases of compassion.
I'm sorry you're going through this.
This must be painful.
This must be really challenging or really hard.
Respond to yourself with love.
You and your emotions are welcome here in this space.
There is space for you.
I welcome you with compassion.
I welcome you with love.
You don't have to sit with the emotion forever,
But what if you just gave yourself one to two minutes to just be present with it?
What if in those one to two minutes,
The intensity of the emotion can ease up just a little?
How would that be for you?
What if the emotion could run its course and be done?
How would that feel?
What if it's just a little?
What if it's just a little?
What if it's just a little?
What if it's just a little?
After you have given yourself time and space to be with the emotion,
You can shift your focus on other things.
What is going well in your life?
What's something that brings a smile to your face?
Is it possible to feel two emotions at the same time?
Can you acknowledge the difficulty of one situation while finding peace or joy in another?
If uncomfortable feelings come up again,
Go through these steps when time and space permit.
Breathe and acknowledge the emotion.
Have self-compassion and then gently redirect.
Welcome your emotions.
They make you human.
They help you connect to others on a deeper level.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
