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Introduction

Good evening, it's nice to be with you all here tonight. I'd like to talk a little bit about emotions. It seems like these days, more of us are experiencing more emotions, or emotions are running high. Or maybe we wish that we were feeling more emotions—we see everybody else doing it, and we're not so much.

Emotions, of course, are an integral part of our lives, and they can be folded into our meditation practice. Of course they can. Everything can be part of our meditation practice; with this practice, there's no such thing as a distraction.

Guided Meditation: Feeling Emotions in the Body

So to begin our meditation practice, maybe just take a moment to get into a comfortable but alert posture. A posture that expresses both your intention of being present here and, for the next little while, to dedicate yourself to meditation practice. But also a posture that expresses ease, that experiences ease.

Maybe take a moment to land here, to arrive, and just generally do a check-in with how you are right now. Kind of this general mood: mad, sad, glad, without making it complicated or making it like you have to figure it out. Just generally notice how you're feeling, your emotional state.

And then see if you can notice how you're feeling about how you're feeling. That is, what is your relationship to your emotional state right now? Again, without making a big project out of it, just checking in.

If you can recognize how you're feeling, your emotional tone, see if you can recognize a physical correlate or a physical experience that goes along with that emotion. This may or may not make sense to you; it may not be obvious. It may be obvious. Some people report sensations in the front part of their bodies: their face, throat, chest, or belly. It's perfectly fine if it's not clear to you, or you're not quite sure what I'm talking about.

So now, after that brief check-in, we can let that go and very simply, gently bring our attention to the sensations of breathing. That is, the movement of the abdomen, or movement of the chest, or maybe feeling the sensations of air going in and out of the nose. Whatever feels supportive or accessible at this moment.

It might be that nothing much is happening, we're just with our sensations of breathing. It might be that we feel like there's an awful lot going on, and a sense of restlessness or a sense of busyness in some way. Whatever your experience is, can you rest your attention on the sensations of breathing?

And if you find yourself lost in thought, just very simply, gently begin again with the sensations of breathing. Can you hang in there with the rhythm of the breath?

When you find yourself lost in thought, it doesn't have to be a problem. Just very simply begin again. It doesn't matter how many times you have to begin again. In some kind of way, can you compose your attention around the sensations of breathing?

Nothing in particular needs to be happening. We're just very simply, gently hanging out with the sensations of breathing: the movement of the abdomen, the chest, or the feeling of the movement of air. Letting any thoughts just move to the background, and in the foreground, be with the sensations of breathing. Feeling the movements rather than thinking about them. Being with the sensations.

If you find yourself lost in thought, it might be helpful to consider, what does an inhale feel like compared to an exhale?^[1] Bring in some curiosity to the experience of breathing.

So now, you can let go of your focus on breathing and again notice the emotional state, or mood, or mental state that is present. And in a very simple way, just offer it a kind of simple awareness, or approach it with some warm-heartedness and respect. What is the emotional state now?

And what sensations in your body let you know that you're having this emotional state? Again, this may be obvious or not so obvious. If you can feel the emotion in the body, this gives you a concrete way in which you can disengage from the story-making that's associated with our emotional states, and just simply observe.

And if you can simply observe, you might notice that it's not as simple to pin down as we might expect; it's a little bit slippery or nebulous. If we're able to witness, to step back a little bit to observe, we'll notice that our emotions are not as solid, concrete, or static^[2] perhaps as we were imagining them or thinking that they were.

But when we are observing, including observing the sensations in the body, maybe it's less clear. Or maybe it's as clear but more diffuse. Or maybe it's clear and not more diffuse, but more changing, less steady.

However it is, we don't have to make it a problem. We're just noticing. It doesn't have to be any particular way. We don't have to do anything with our emotions in this practice, we're just noticing them. And noticing that when we notice, perhaps they're not as solid, or clear, or concrete as we thought they were.

And then for these last moments, just come back to the sensations of breathing.

Dedication of Merit

And so we do this practice to support our exploration, our understanding of ourselves. Our exploration and our understanding of the human experience so that we might understand others, so that our practice can be of benefit for all beings—those we come in contact with, and those they come in contact with. Not just for ourselves, but for all beings. May whatever benefit we have from this practice support everyone, everywhere.^[3]

Thank you. I guess I could ring the bell now.