The Container of Loving Awareness

So just finding a comfortable position on a cushion or on a chair. And lightly closing the eyes, if you care to. And just tuning into the feeling of the breath in your body. And as you continue to follow the breathing now, there may be emotions arising, maybe also thoughts. And when we experience any difficult emotions in our meditation, whether it's sadness, fear, loneliness, irritation, or anger, our instinct is to try to push them away or ignore them.

But that doesn't really help us because pushing away emotions only tends to prolong them and make them bigger. So today, if anything is arising that feels difficult, see if you can create a safe space within you, a container of awareness that can hold whatever's arising in a gentle, compassionate and accepting way. So seeing if you can have a sense of tending to any pain, resistance, or discomfort like you would tend to a loved one who was hurting. If your loved one was upset, you wouldn't try to make them go away or ignore them. You'd simply give them support, maybe a hug or a loving presence to be with.

See if you can meet any difficult emotions in this way too. Allow the emotion, to arise, acknowledge the emotion, and create a safe container of awareness for them. And just continuing to follow the breathing.. Staying in touch with the breathing in. The breathing out.

And the spaces in between the breaths. When we create this container of awareness, we learn to offer a safe space for our emotions, offering them compassion, gentleness, and acceptance. And in this way, we can then be with anything, no matter how hard or scary it feels. So just continuing for these last moments of practice to follow the breathing and having this attitude of creating a safe container for any emotions to arise and dissipate. And now bringing this practice to a close by taking a deep breath in.

And breathing out, beginning to wriggle the fingers and toes. And when you're ready, you can open the eyes. So well done today. You've learned to be with difficult emotions in a brave, kind and healthy way. So just knowing that when you're going through hard times, you can use this meditation again.

You might like to favorite it. Or you can simply practice accepting your emotions and tending to them with compassion. Difficult emotions can then simply pass in their own time. And you move through them in a way that makes you stronger and wiser on the other side. And wishing you a great day.

Thank you for your practice. Take care.