Enjoy this guided meditation and the accompanying script, which will help you to heal painful emotions.
Here are the instructions, step by step:
Here’s a concise step-by-step guide for the meditation on navigating emotions:
1. **Get Comfortable**: Sit comofortably and close your eyes.
2. **Box Breathing**: Inhale through your nose for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, and pause for four. Repeat.
3. **Observe Your Breath**: Focus on your breath to calm your mind.
4. **Identify and Describe Emotion**: Acknowledge the emotion you feel, label it, and describe its sensations.
5. **Visualize Opposite Emotion**: Recall the opposite emotion and a time when you felt it strongly.
6. **Experience the Positive Emotion**: Allow yourself to feel that positive emotion in the present moment.
7. **Conclude**: Enjoy this balanced state before returning your awareness to the present.
Meditation For Negative Emotions – Script
Welcome to this guided meditation for navigating your emotions. Take a moment to get comfortable, and when you’re ready, gently close your eyes. Let’s begin, as we usually do, with a bit of box breathing. Breathe in through your nose to a count of four, hold for four, and breathe out through your mouth for four. Pause for four, and repeat.
At this moment, simply observe your breath flowing gently through your body. We’ll start with some mindful breathing before we continue. Remember that, regardless of what’s been happening or what you might do later, the only thing that matters right now is calmly observing your breath. Let go of everything else, allowing your breath to guide your mind to a place of calm.
From time to time, your mind may wander, and that’s natural. When it does, gently bring your focus back to your breath. Notice the peaceful energy growing within you. Observe that within yourself, there is a place of quiet—a space filled with empty silence and peaceful energy. Let your mind float in this open, serene space, as you become calm and tranquil.
With this newfound calmness, we can begin to explore our emotions. Notice the emotion you are feeling in the present moment and gently label it for yourself. If you were to describe that emotion in one word, what would it be?
Now, let’s investigate that emotion a bit further. Observe it as if you were looking at it from slightly outside yourself, and with a curious mind, describe what that emotion feels like.
For example, if I’m feeling a bit stressed, I might step back and observe it, labeling it as stress. I might say, “I feel a tightness in my chest, and I feel heavy.” If you’re feeling sad, you might describe it as a warm, damp energy. We’re simply identifying the properties and sensations of the emotion we are experiencing.
As you describe the emotion, you may notice a couple of things. First, your mind might get caught up in the emotion. If that happens, return to your breath. Take a deep, calming breath and observe how the breath flows through your body, allowing it to cleanse your mind. You might also notice that describing your emotion makes it more tangible, giving you a greater sense of control, which is beneficial.
To recap, we’re observing the breath to calm the mind and increase our emotional awareness. Mindful breathing has been shown to enhance our emotional awareness. With this increased awareness, we begin to describe our emotions—their physical properties and the type of energy involved—making them more tangible and less elusive.
I’ll be silent for a moment to allow you to do that.
[Music]
Our emotions can be deceptive, skewing our view of the world. When we’re down, we tend to see the negative. When we’re anxious, we may perceive the world as threatening. Conversely, when we’re happy, we notice all the good. While emotions can be misleading, we can bring them into balance, and that’s what we’re going to do now.
Continue to observe your breath and enjoy the calm, clear mind, relishing the spaciousness of that peaceful energy.
Now, recall the name you gave to your emotion. Perhaps it was happiness, anger, or sadness. Think of the opposite of that emotion. For example, if you’re feeling anger, think of calmness; if you’re feeling sadness, think of happiness.
Now, reflect on a time in your life when you felt that opposite emotion strongly. If your emotion was sadness, recall a time when you felt very happy. If it was anger, think of a moment of calmness. Bring that memory to mind and visualize it.
Be curious about the quality of that emotion. What was the energy of that emotion at that time? How did it manifest? What did it feel like to experience that emotion? Allow yourself to relive that moment now. Notice how this emotion begins to exist in the present moment. By bringing to mind that memory, you are starting to feel that way here and now, which helps balance your emotions.
To recap, we began this meditation with mindful breathing to calm and clear the mind. Then, as we do in Vipassana, we investigated the nature of our emotion, describing it to ourselves, which made it more tangible. We then brought to mind the opposite of that emotion—sadness becoming happiness. By recalling a time when we felt that opposite emotion, we cultivated it in the present moment, achieving balance.
When feeling angry, we experienced calmness, placing us somewhere in the middle.
Thank you for joining this guided meditation for navigating emotions. I hope you enjoyed this session. Please leave a comment about your experience, whether you found it helpful or if there’s anything you’d like me to do differently next time. If you enjoyed this meditation, please remember to like and subscribe. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you next time.
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Feel free to make any adjustments or let me know if you need further changes!