Every emotion, even those we might label as uncomfortable or unwelcome, can carry information. Anger, for example, can point to a boundary, grief to a loss, and jealousy to something we want. When we allow ourselves to feel what we feel, there may be something to learn.
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. Sean invites us to befriend the whole of our experience and to rest as 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 practice.
Sponsored by the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification MindfulnessExercises.com/Certification
Emotions can be understood as energy that rolls through the body like the waves of the ocean. Many traditions hold that every emotion, even a painful one, has something to teach us. With mindful observation of our emotions, we can begin to identify with the ocean as well as the wave.
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 identify strongly with an emotion, it can drive habitual reactions, and those reactions can 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. In this practice, we relate to our emotions from the perspective of the loving awareness that witnesses them.
Just as we might stay beside 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.’
Befriending our emotions in this way points toward 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:
- Podcast: Connecting With Emotions Through the Body, with Sean Fargo
- Podcast: Dr. Gabor Maté on Emotional Wellbeing, with Sean Fargo
- Podcast: Using the Body to Identify Emotions, with Sean Fargo
- Blog: Mindfulness of Emotions – Signs and Meanings
- Blog: Dr. Gabor Maté on Healthy Ways to Cope With Difficult Emotions Through Mindfulness
- Mindfulness Worksheet: Staying with Emotions
- Mindfulness Worksheet: A New Perspective on Emotions
- Mindfulness Worksheet: The True Nature of Mind
- Meditation Script: Staying With Emotions
About Sean Fargo:
Sean Fargo is a former Buddhist monk who founded Mindfulness Exercises and leads the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification.
