Our 2nd tip is: Hang out more in the sensations that correspond to your feelings, instead of the thoughts that justify them.
In the first tip for embodied power I invited you to distinguish between your feelings, your thoughts and your body sensations. So now that you’ve started to get that your emotions are not your thoughts, and that for every emotion there is a corresponding body sensation, I’m going to ask you to start paying more attention to the sensations corresponding to your feelings instead of the thoughts that correspond to them.
What this means is that every time you notice a feeling, notice the sensation associated with it and keep your attention focussed on that sensation. Notice the texture, the temperature, the rhythym, the strength, the pattern of it. Be captivated, absolutley absorbed by it. Doing this will draw you away from the thoughts associated with the feeling. If you notice a running commentary being generated about your noticing of the sensation just bring yourself back to the sensation instead of the conversation in your head about it.
Let’s try it now. Notice what feeling is arising within you now, what emotion is stirring within you. You may be feeling at peace in this moment without a particular emotion, but even feeling at peace has a corresponding sensation. So look for that, notice where you experience your present emotional state in your body, don’t 2nd guess it, just go with whatever comes up first, and notice the texture that is present there, without judgement, without needing to change it, without having to even understand it. Be there for a few breaths with what is present at the level of your body in connection to your emotional state in this moment. I call this attention to our present felt sense experience, loving presence, and it’s a wonderful place to sit, especially if you serve others in a healing way. It encourages you to be present with you as you serve another.
If you can get into the habit of paying attention and maintaining your focus your body sensations, you are one step closer to harnessing the power of your emotions instead of cutting off that very rich source of power by focusing on the thoughts that justify and disconnect us from our emotions.
The longer you can sustain a sense of your body experience instead of being distracted by your thoughts, the longer you will be able to tap into the rich source of power that presence yields.
The more you can do this, the more body centered, or embodied, you will be.
Now I want to address for a moment a question that may come up for you which is, What if my emotional state is overwhelming and I’m in a spiral of emotion that is creating anxiety and distress?
I think you’ll start to notice that the anxiety and the distress are actually perpetuated by your focusing on the thoughts, which is one very good reason to steer away from the thoughts. We’ll look at that more closely when I share my next tip with you.
For now, know that you can cultivate a very powerful place of emotional neutrality, a place of witnessing your emotions from the center of your rich world of feelings, which allows you to resource the power of your emotions without being at the mercy of them, as you practice and master loving presence.
I’ll meet you soon next for my 3rd tip, until then happy sensing!