Listen now
Every emotion has value, even those we might label as uncomfortable or unwelcome. Anger, for example, can help us set healthy boundaries. Grief can help us process loss, and jealousy can provide us with deep insight. When we allow ourselves to feel what we feel, there’s always something to be learned.
In this mindfulness meditation guided by Sean Fargo, we are invited to tenderly listen to the body, heart and spirit, to sense into what emotions are present and to practice presence with them. By befriending the entirety of our experience, we identify not with fleeting phenomena, but with the loving awareness that takes it all in.
Listen in a safe, quiet place where you can be relatively free from distraction. Practice with eyes opened or closed, in a posture that balances comfort with alertness. May this meditation be of benefit to you in your mindfulness journey.
Find hundreds more guided audio meditations or download 200 meditation scripts to expand your personal practice, or to share with others.
Emotions, like everything, are made of energy. As they roll through the body like the waves of the ocean, they do so with purpose. Every emotion, even those that feel painful, has something to teach us. With mindful observation of our emotions, we can learn who we really, truly are. We begin to identify not with the wave but with the ocean.
It’s common to avoid, suppress or repress uncomfortable emotions. Painful or strong emotions sometimes feel as though if they were felt, they would completely consume us. When we attach to or identify with our emotions, we likewise lose our sense of self. We let our emotions drive habitual reactions and, in the process, cause harm.
With mindfulness, we can feel what we feel without getting lost in the feeling. Mindfulness helps us relate to our emotions from a new perspective. We are not our emotions, but rather, we are the loving entity that witnesses them.
Just as we might sit with a friend and hold their hand in a time of sadness, befriending our emotions lets us do the same for ourselves. ‘I am angry’ becomes, ‘Oh, anger is arising, how interesting, let me explore.’ And further, ‘May I offer myself loving kindness in this moment of pain.’
This practice of befriending our emotions helps connect us with our deepest essence - the spirit, or loving awareness in which the energy of emotions rises and falls, comes and goes. In the safe space of mindfulness meditation, we can learn to be our own best friend. We can then carry this identity into an appreciation for our body, emotions and spirit throughout our days.
Learn more about befriending emotions and discovering your deepest essence with these additional free mindfulness resources:
About Sean Fargo:
Sean Fargo is a former Buddhist monk and the founder of Mindfulness Exercises. The online platform, which has shared free and premium mindfulness resources with over 3 million people worldwide, has now certified over 500 Mindfulness Teachers.
Sean is the lead instructor for the teacher training program, a unique self-paced approach which invites world-renowned mindfulness teachers to share their insights and experiences. Sean has taught mindfulness and meditation for corporations including Facebook, Google and Tesla and for health and government organizations, prisons and hospitals around the world.
