So we are going to do an emotional regulation meditation,
Where I'm going to invite you to sit with a straight spine,
Feet touching the floor and really feel how you are seated in your chair.
You can place your hands open in your lap,
Move those shoulders if you feel a little bit of tension,
Relax your jaw,
Try to relax your eyebrows as well and you can close your eyes and you can join me in taking deep breaths in through the nose and then pausing and then breathing out through pursed lips as if you are blowing out a candle and it should be longer than your inhale.
So you can take a deep breath in,
Pause and breathe out slowly.
Breathe in,
Pause and breathe out.
Breathe in,
Hold it and can you let go of your to-do list.
Deep breath in and when you pause for your out-breath you can bend over a little bit so that you completely empty your lungs.
Breathe in,
Pause and let that negativity go.
Return to your normal natural breath,
Make sure your tongue is relaxed in your mouth and let's dive a little bit deeper into that body of yours.
And we are going to notice what we feel.
What physical symptoms do you feel?
For example cold,
Tension,
Tightness and maybe these are signs already of your emotion.
Or maybe you also feel some tiredness,
You are hungry.
What other physical symptoms do you notice?
You can try to trace it with your hands and try to feel if you can label it as an emotion.
And where do you feel it in your body?
Now we are going to label the emotion as really stated out loud.
I am feeling anxious.
Try to trace it in your body.
Can you also give it a number from 1 to 10?
For example anxiety,
A 6.
Happiness,
A 5.
And don't dwell on the story,
Just label it and give it a number from 1 to 10.
Emotions are a normal and natural part of us,
So let's try to not beat ourselves up for feeling angry or scared.
Can you recognize that these emotions and reactions are valid?
And you can do that by actually placing your hands on your heart and listen to me when I say your feelings are valid.
You are just feeling your emotions.
There are no positive and negative emotions,
They're just emotions.
You are doing your best.
You are perfectly imperfect.
You are taking time and investing in you.
You are learning how to regulate your emotions.
And can you give yourself a hug and actually say the following out loud to yourself?
I am doing my best.
I am perfectly imperfect.
I am creating a space within me.
I am learning how to regulate my emotions.
My feelings are valid.
Thank you.
You can let go.
And I am very grateful that you are here,
That you are not alone.
And is there something you are grateful for today?
And can you thank yourself for investing this time in you?
And can you now make a choice how you want to respond to the emotions you are experiencing right now?
Maybe you want to go on a hike with your dogs,
Do some yoga,
Do some arts and crafts.
What is a way you want to respond to your emotions right now?
Not the story you are telling yourself,
The emotion.
And have another final check-in before we end this meditation.
What emotions are you experiencing right now?
Are they the same or did they change?
And you can take a deep breath in and let that go.
Move around a little bit,
Come back,
Open your eyes.
And how was that experience for you?
So what we've done,
Just to quickly recap,
We worked on our bodily strategy of regulating our emotions.
And that is to create space,
To notice what you feel,
Name what you feel,
Focus on physical symptoms,
Label the emotion,
Give it a number from 1 to 10,
Really accept the emotion.
And you can do that by breathing in through it,
Focusing on where it is in your body.
And then do some positive affirmations,
And a little bit of compassion and gratitude.
And then have another check-in.
Hey,
Am I still feeling the same way?
So my invitation to you is try to make this a regular practice.
Pay attention to where you are feeling certain emotions and what sort of physical symptoms you are experiencing,
So that you can prevent,
If it happens,
To be out of your window of tolerance.
Pay attention to what is happening in your body.
I would really want to thank you for being here,
For being here.
And I hope that it really helped you.
Thank you so much.
