[progressally_objectives]
“We can regain our freedom if, as a first step, we simply acknowledge the actuality of our situation, without immediately being hooked into automatic tendencies to judge, fix, or want things to be other than they are. The body scan exercise provides an opportunity to practice simply bringing an interested and friendly awareness to the way things are in the moment, without having to do anything to change things.”
Zindel Segal
As we explored emotions last week, we began to notice how emotions have definitive physical markers – anxiety may be tightness in the chest, anger may be experienced in the stomach. Many of the ways we describe emotions (“a weight on my shoulders,” “a sinking feeling in my stomach”) often refer to their physical manifestations. In this lesson, you can practice a second body awareness meditation that focuses specifically on identifying how emotions and mental states feel in YOUR body.
In the previous lesson, I mentioned how with the body scan, we can become aware of a slight pain before it manifests into something more debilitating. Well, the same is true for our emotions. Have you ever had a day where you just “blew up” at someone (probably during the evening “witching hours” of 4-7pm)? Most likely, you had been triggered by an event earlier in the day, creating some low-level anxiety or frustration that hovered just below your awareness (perhaps as a slight headache, or nausea, or a quickened pulse). By evening, a small annoyance triggered an out-of-proportion response because you hadn’t acknowledged or addressed the earlier frustration.
By tuning in to our bodies throughout the day, recognizing our unique physical manifestations of various feelings, we become more aware of emotion and can begin to prevent those unproductive reactions and outbursts. We can address (and greet!) anger when we feel it, rather than letting it simmer.
After you listen to the guided meditation, you can click here to download the funsheet for reflection and journaling.
(The meditation is about 10 minutes. You may find it helpful to pause the audio between each emotion we explore if you need more time to explore that sensation in the body).