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Hello and welcome to Twelve

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Minute Meditation. A

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weekly podcast from Mindful and

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mindful.org that offers mindfulness meditation

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is backed by neuroscience. If

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you've been practicing, you know. That.

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Twelve minute to meditation

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a day can yield

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benefits like increased attention

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focus, creativity, com resilience

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and compassion. The

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latest scientific research supports this

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knowledge. So on this podcast

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we invite you to do

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your twelve minute practice. With

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guided meditations from today's leading

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mindfulness experts. There's. A

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new practice each week, and a new way

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to experience some of those benefits day to

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day. I'm. Chelsea,

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Arsenal. Director. Of Advertising

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Up Mindful and mindful.org and

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this week Kim Armstrong lead

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to practice called a Meditation

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for Challenging Emotions. Similar

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to a lighthouse guiding ships to the

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stormy seas of the mind. This.

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Guided Meditation offers a sanctuary

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for those seeking to confront

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and process difficult emotions with

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grace. Kim's.

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Approach involves ground techniques

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to establish a sense

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of presence, identifying and

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naming emotions to acknowledge

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them fully, exploring the

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physical sensations tied to

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these emotions and finally

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envelope in one's and

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tenderness and compassion through

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touch. Words. Or

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visualization. Kim.

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Is a cofounder and facilitator

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ad space between. She practices

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mindfulness in order to know,

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see and feel what is

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really important in life. Kim

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has a masters and child

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and Adolescent Psychology from the

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University of Washington and as

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a certified meditation teacher and

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five hundred our yoga teacher

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When she isn't managing operation.

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The Tell. She can be

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found strumming chords and her guitar. You.

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Can subscribe to twelve minute meditation

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while you're on mindful.org. Or.

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Wherever. You find your favorite podcast.

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And if you move to leave us reveal.

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We'd. Be grateful. And. Several

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other listeners. See.

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Your review help them to decide.

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Whether. Twelve minute meditation. As for

2:25

them. But for.

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Now. For. You.

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Here Kim Armstrong. High.

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Oh my name is Kim

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Armstrong. I'm with a non

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profit and the Seattle area

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called Space Between and I'm

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here today to offer a

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meditation around a supporting yourself

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with challenging emotions. I

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have benefited so greatly from

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meditation and mindfulness practices for

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supporting my own challenging emotions

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that I've experienced most primarily

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a fear and anxiety, but

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of course all of the

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ones that we experience as

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human beings. and so I

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hope this practice is supportive

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for you and please reach

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out if you have questions.

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About it. So

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let's go ahead and find

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the most comfortable place that

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you can be. So you

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could be lying down, you

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could be sitting in a

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chair, on a cushion, on

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the floor, or against a

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wall. Is standing feels

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better for your body? Obviously that

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works too. So go ahead and

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and shift your weight around a

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little bit from side to side

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from. Back to front. Ever

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position year and until

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you find a place

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that your body feels

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relatively settled. You.

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Could choose to close your

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eyes are soften your gaze

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a little that. Whatever

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feels most comfortable to you. And

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then let's take a few

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collective breath together. I invite

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you to close your mouth

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and breathe in your nose

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a slow breaths. And

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and let it out through either your know, Fairmount,

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Another one breathing and. And

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really? now? New

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one Mar breathing in. An

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letting And now. Just

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notice. How

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this feels in your body. See

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if you can draw your

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attention down here. Seats are

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to your bottom or something

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that a place that feels

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a little grounding for you.

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Maybe it's your hands pressing enter

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your thighs, Or

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the chair that bad or wherever you are.

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To says someplace that can help ground

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you have that. Know.

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I invite you to go. To

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and memory of the last

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week or so. Where

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there has been some sort

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of challenging and motion for

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the first practice I invite

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you to pick. Something that

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doesn't feel too overwhelming to

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challenging. something kind of in

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the middle. Of a kind

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of easy and the

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most challenging. Does

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as you bring yourself back to.

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That memory. Sees

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you can just simply know it

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is. With curiosity

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and kindness? what was going?

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On for you. Let.

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Thoughts were you having? About

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the experience. Know

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the seen, What a

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motion you may have been

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experiencing as well. Lately

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name mean.

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Whatever emotion or emotions you

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are experiencing at that time.

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I learned from Doctor Dan see

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ago this idea of name it

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to tame it. So

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by name mean and

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emotion that we are

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experiencing moving toward it

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with this. Feeling

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or stance. Of curiosity

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and compassion. It

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can subtle at a little bit. Though

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just gently saying to

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yourself. Fear.

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Shame. Anger.

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Despair Or how? to

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gently name in it it

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like you're validating the experience

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and the emotion of someone

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that you care for. Just

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gently validating really

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warmly and kindly whatever

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it is that you're

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experiencing. I

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like to imagine that these

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emotions that come through

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are almost like

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a neighbor that I'm passing on

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the street so I'm not turning

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around and avoiding them.

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Maybe I'm not lingering

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with them for a long long time

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but I'm greeting them. Oh

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hi again anxiety. Oh

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there you are again. I see you. Fear.

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Or wow anger. Good

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morning. So

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opening up just

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like we would one of

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our neighbors if we're walking our dog

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or walking down the street opening

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up to their presence. Now

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after kind

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of naming and sitting with and

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allowing a challenging

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emotion I

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invite you to tune into

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your body as you experience

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that emotion. Knowing

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that every time we experience

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an emotion, something is

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happening for us somatically, something is

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happening for us in our body.

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And exploring with this

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idea of curiosity and

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kindness or compassion, what that

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feels like, where that is, whether

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it's a kind of tightness in

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our chest, kind

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of a gripping sensation in the

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hands or the forehead or the

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legs or the toes or the

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belly or the jaw. For

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me it's often kind of a tightness

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feeling in my chest. Sometimes

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if an

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emotion in particular with anxiety is

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really strong, it feels almost like

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there's a concrete block there. But

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all of us experience emotions in

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a different way. So it

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might be a jagged feeling or kind

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of a zigzag feeling or a

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fluttery feeling. Exploring

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where it is in your body without

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making it wrong or bad or

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judging it. If

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at any point whatever the

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physical sensation is

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becomes too overwhelming, you

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could go back to that feeling of

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groundedness, whether it's on your feet

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or your bottom or your hands. But

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if it doesn't feel too overwhelming,

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see if you can sit with allowing kind

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of whatever

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uncomfortable sensation

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occurs with that

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challenging emotion. Really

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allowing. And

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now I invite you to

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place a soothing hand, your

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warm hand, your own hand,

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and it could

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be even just imagining it somewhere

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on your body that would feel comforting

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to you. This

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could be placing your hand on your heart or

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wrapping each hand around

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the opposite shoulder. It

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could be pressing your hands into your thighs.

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It might be a hand on your belly. It

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might be a hand on your forehead. I

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had someone once tell me that

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placing their hand on their forehead

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reminded them of their mother placing

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their hand on their forehead when they were sick.

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So that placement

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is like a sign to yourself

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of your own tenderness, your own

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compassion towards yourself. Having

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that soothing touch of wherever your

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hand is be

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a reminder to yourself of

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your All

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of these challenging emotions are normal

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human experiences that we have and

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giving ourselves the kindness

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that we need in the moment. In

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addition to the

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placement of your hand, you might just

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gently say some words to yourself. May

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I feel ease in this moment. May

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I get through this challenging emotion

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with curiosity and compassion. May

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I know I'm doing my best. Whatever

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words that might feel supportive to

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you. You

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may also imagine visually

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someone who really cares for

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you, kind of giving

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you some support, some more, some

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compassion. Allowing

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the visual or the sensory

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feeling of your hand or

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the words to kind

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of wash over you with compassion

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for these challenging emotions. And

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then returning again and again as

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you need to with

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naming it, name it,

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detain it, touching

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in with curiosity, with the

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sensation and then

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giving yourself some loving,

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tender comfort. for

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whatever emotion it is that

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you're experiencing. This

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is a practice that can be done

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over a period of time with sitting with

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it, just

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in a moment that's difficult. I

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hope you found this practice supportive.

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Thank you so much for joining me. Take good care.

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Thank you for listening to this episode

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of 12-Minute Meditation from Mindful and

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mindful.org. I hope you enjoyed

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practicing with us. We'll be

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back in seven days with another meditation for

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you.