We'll begin finding a position for the body in a way that's comfortable for you where you feel supported as well as restful or at ease.
Could be laying down,
Could be seated.
Find out what it's like to close your eyes.
If it feels calmer to you or more focused,
Wonderful.
If it doesn't,
No problem.
You may open your eyes,
Allow the body to exist in a way that works.
So if that's having your eyes open,
It could be just a soft gaze.
We'll begin by noticing at first whatever you do notice.
Discomfort,
Relaxation,
Certain body sensation,
Numbness,
Emptiness,
Whatever you experience right now.
It's great that you're naming it even if you don't feel clear about what it is.
Bring a little bit of movement into the body to encourage more awareness at this physical level.
I like to shift my weight back and forth a tiny bit,
Just wiggling my weight downward toward the earth,
Releasing any tension I have in my head,
My neck,
My upper body,
Letting it cascade down so that I feel my seat below me,
Anchoring me.
You can do this lying down or standing.
Now feeling your breath,
Noticing you are breathing.
It can be however it's showing up right now.
Tight or relaxed,
Full or constricted.
The fact that you're noticing it is key.
We're bringing a lot of self-acceptance into this practice,
Trying not to judge what we find or how a meditation should be.
Just finding ourselves here and bringing forward some sense of kindness.
That could simply be,
I want this meditation to help me.
I'm doing this because I care about myself.
So in this short practice,
In a moment,
I'm going to invite you to turn towards emotion.
We're just going to see if we can find one emotion.
Just noticing if that brings anything up for you,
Hearing the word emotion.
It might be curiosity,
Leaning forward,
Wanting to find out,
Or it might be aversion and pulling away,
Retracting inside.
It could be neutral,
Unmoving.
Turn inward to find an emotion right now and see what happens.
Is there anything I'm feeling?
Do I have a certain kind of mood?
Is there a kind of tone to my experience at this moment?
If you've already found one,
Great.
Just stay present with yourself and that feeling.
For anyone who may be having difficulty identifying a feeling,
I'm going to name some feeling words and you can see if they help.
Happy,
Sad,
Neutral,
Clear,
Bored,
Angry,
Confused,
Preoccupied,
Regretful,
Excited.
Whether or not you've found a clear feeling,
We're going to bring awareness into the body to support the connection with feeling.
You can take your hand and place it on the body where you've found a feeling.
It could be on your heart.
I place my hand on my heart often,
Especially when I'm feeling sad.
It could be on your head.
I place my hand on my head when I feel worried.
You could try placing your hand on your stomach.
You could place your hands on your legs,
On your lower back.
And as you do this,
See if that helps you connect to your feeling experience.
We're not trying to change feelings,
To feel a certain way,
Or to fix a feeling that we're having.
We're just noticing them because they're part of the experience.
Even if you're feeling neutral,
Numb,
Or confused,
This is also a feeling and they're okay to have.
If you have a feeling that we often identify as negative,
Or that is hard to feel,
Like sadness,
Grief,
Anger,
Aversion,
Notice that too.
And see if it's possible to allow it to be here.
If you have a feeling on the positive side of the range,
Such as excitement,
Joy,
Happiness,
Gratitude,
Also see if you can allow that feeling to be here.
If your mind is busy with a lot of thoughts,
And it's hard to have any feelings,
See if you can notice the quality of the thoughts.
Something might be tying them together.
They might have a certain flavor,
Where you can find,
Hiding behind the thoughts,
A thread of feeling,
A tone,
An emotion.
Wherever you are with this exploring emotions process,
Take a moment to notice at the end of this meditation,
If you feel the same or any different than when you started.
Release any expectations for yourself about feelings,
Any effort you're making.
Just come back to the body,
And you could wiggle it a little bit again,
Just to let go of any tension or effort.
Coming into stillness,
Eyes open or closed.
The body is breathing.
Please follow me on Insight Timer,
If you are interested in more neurodivergent meditation.
And leave me a comment with what you noticed in this practice,
Or any other meditations that you would like guided for neurodivergent people.
Feel free to stay here in silence as long as you want.
We'll end the practice here.
