30 Day Meditation Challenge
Leave a comment below, what’d you think of Day 8?
Day 8 - Release Difficult Emotions
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Join the 30 Day Challenge yourself HERE
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Join the 30 Day Challenge yourself HERE
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I have been enjoying your meditations – thank you! This was the first one I had trouble with: I visualized the relaxed feelings of the swinging bench next to me, not the upset from previous thought. Oops! I’ll try again later today, and this time visualize the upset emotions to befriend.
Okay..this is first time I have been introduced to..all emotions comes from the same faucet..I have practiced, and taught my students from the good wolf and bad wolf, or angel on the right and devil on the other shoulder. This is good. Tell me more about the one-faucet construct
Thanks.
Hi Norman, the concept is that because all our emotions come out of the same faucet, when we clamp down on sadness or anger, we’re also clamping down on our ability to experience joy. I’ve learned that the more I can welcome and observe or be aware of ALL feelings, the easier it is to experience joy and love. Sometimes after letting myself cry or scream, I’ll start laughing hysterically! There can be a big release and sense of relief as you let yourself feel and let go of painful emotions.
I’m going through quite a life changing event at the moment. This meditation was really timely. My feeling was anger and sadness. It looked like a black, spiky monster. I felt afraid, and that it wanted me to fight it. But as I sat there, on the swinging bench, it didnt feel so scary. I loved this meditation today, and I will use it in future. Being able to visualise the emotion was really powerful. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing Marcelle. I’m so glad you were able to sit with that black, spiky monster and then notice how it became less scary. That’s beautiful. I’ve had really intense looking monsters show up when I do this as well, one of them wanted to hurt me and I just surrendered and let it…and then it transformed and started crying. It’s fascinating to see what shows up and to trust yourself to work with it and give it whatever it needs. For me, that always leads to feeling better.
I have been using similar approach..that is, never try to push emotions down_(negative)but allow them to rise but make the statement, I no longer think this way, and overlay the thought with a new and positive statement. I am in the ballpark?
That sounds like a great practice Norman. It’s good to let yourself feel your feelings and simply observe them without believing any story that goes along with the sensations. And the if you want to program in a new and positive statement afterwards, great! The only thing that sometimes doesn’t work is if we try to say positive affirmations when we’re in a negative emotional state and can’t connect with the affirmation…sometimes we need to give our feelings space and just feel them, honor them, and notice the physical sensations in the body. As you bring awareness and compassion to the sensations, they usually shift. Once things have shifted, that’s when I bring in affirmations or even more loving kindness and compassion. 🙂
I have definitely been thoroughly enjoying these meditations each day.
Today really was powerful and I actually found myself in tears near the end, realizing that I had such great compassion for these feelings that I have tried to push aside!
aww, that’s wonderful Kayleen. Thank you for sharing. YAY!!!
One of three family members who are taking the 30-day challenge, I was awakened today by my cell phone ringing; it was 40 minutes before I wanted to hear my alarm clock. Without my glasses I couldn’t read the number but answered.
It was a Munich friend and that would cost me. Annoying. I’ve asked the friends’ daughters to correct her records to remove my cell number and replace it with my landline, which their entire family has used since 1988.
I tried to call Verizon to ask the cost. But I used gethuman, and no way could I get a human but instead got a link to cost $10 for something I’d never need. Maddening.
I’ve been doing mindfulness before getting breakfast or shower, but the cell call and the Verizon fiasco stole too much time. Yet I dreaded facing my demanding day in my state of mind.
Mindfulness won, and how grateful I am I had the opportunity in Day 8 of your challenge for 5 minutes of releasing difficult emotions as I faced the frustration and anger that sat beside me, asking to be accepted — if not loved.
Thank you, Vanessa.
What a powerful shift you had Nan from starting your day with anger and frustration, and then choosing mindfulness and acceptance instead. YAY!!! Nice turn around!
This was so powerful for me today. The anger, rage, and sadness that sat next to me on the porch swing burned red and yellow. As I spoke to it through your guidance it wanted me to at first burn, but then that turned into the request to feel it. As I told the flame next to me that I feel you and wrapped my arm around it… it tuned ice blue and from a flame to an undulating orb of sorts. I used your breathing techniques from previous meditations to release and feel everything that was present. … my chest is more relaxed now and I feel power inside me. Thank you for these tools and this time and sharing your gifts. Love to you!
Wow, what a beautiful and powerful experience Erin! I love hearing how it shifted from fire to ice blue, and how you used the breathing technique to help release and feel everything. Nice work!!!! YAY YOU. 🙂
Mines was red..that shouted at me to stop procrastinating on a project..to get stuff together and move forward.
As you give it more love, notice if it softens at all. Thanks for sharing Norman.
Interesting –I discovered that the feeling was really empathy that I was afraid to feel for my Sister. I was more in the ‘what to do for her’ mode than how to feel—-Acknowledging my feelings will lead me to the right action.
aww, that’s such a precious realization Karen. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into “fix it” mode when I see a friend or loved one suffering, I just want to FIX IT. And usually the person really just needs my empathy, which is often harder to give than taking action to try to fix something. That’s such a powerful discovery you made today. Thank you for sharing.
What you resist persists. I should use this as my new mantra. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
The only way that I could picture this anger was is a red raging flame and I just couldn’t put my arms around that because I would get burned. I had a difficult time with this one. Any suggestions?
Great question Sandy. Your mind is very creative and can come up with its own solutions. Maybe try talking to the red raging flame and tell it that you’re scared of getting burned if you put your arms around it, and see what it says. You can also ask it what it needs, maybe it wants something other than you putting your arms around it. Or you could call in another shape to protect you, perhaps a blue cooling gel that can cover your arms so you can put your arms around the red flame without getting burned. Lastly, you can ask yourself; “Hmm, how is this familiar, this fear of getting too close to anger because I don’t want to get burned?” Chances are, you had an experience as a child where you got burned by anger. If you can connect with that original event, you can heal by working with that event or person and doing a meditation to ask what your little girl needs in that situation.
Thank you I really needed that!!❤️❤️
Thanks Kathy!
Very interesting meditation today. Always thought my inner self was very confident but my negative emotions want me to do better.
Thank you for sharing Helen
Great! It’s very helpful meditation! Thank you a lot, Vanessa! You make a big difference in the world by your meditation!
aww, thank you Elena!
very clever meditation-all these meditations are very good, thank you, Vanessa
Thanks Zaneta! I learned this technique from my mentor Katie Hendricks (https://www.hendricks.com/about) and find it very useful.