Making Yourself Small - for a big reason!

Overwhelming Moments

Mindfulness Talk

Feeling momentarily overwhelmed is an experience we know well.  It washes over us, making us feel temporarily separated.  It cuts us off from our decision-making brain, which gives us that frozen feeling.  It turns off our awareness of others, which makes us feel like the world has suddenly turned against us.  It momentarily disconnects us from our center, which inflames and irritates us.  Even our body is rigid and walled off.  Ugh. 

I know it’s a paradox, but a great strategy for breaking out is to make yourself small!

You don’t have to be big and bold and successful right now.  You can just be little ol’ you.  And look, you’ve got a bit of a bruise from being overwhelmed just now.  What does that bruise feel like?  Are you a little embarrassed?  Feeling a little inadequate?  Are you feeling a bit uncared for?  It’s just little ol’ you, so you can look at that bruise honestly and with caring eyes.  (If you find that this bruise is actually a wound, you may want to reach out to a therapist.) 

Overwhelming moments temporarily separate us from ourselves and our people.  And emotional meditation is a wonderful way to reconnect ourselves.  

Until next time,

Laura  

Meditation

Finding Present Meditation: Pull yourself in tight and focus only on your senses.  Look down and notice only the sights right at your feet.  Notice the light and shadows, notice the colors, notice the tiny imperfections in the space right at your feet. 

What can you feel on your skin? Notice the slight breeze on your hand or that bit of warmth on your shoulder. 

Skip past the big sounds in this place and notice the soft, tiny sounds.  Focus on finding them. 

Now what smells are in the place? Can you identify each one seperatly?

When you feel present, either continue like this for the whole meditation or begin the mindfulness meditation.

Mindfulness Meditation:‍ ‍

On an exhale, imagine your small, cozy bubble expanding out just a bit. Notice your senses - what you see/hear/smell/feel on your skin.

On another exhale, imagine expanding out just a bit more. Notice your senses.

Expand out on your exhales. Expand out until your bubble is as wide as you can reach with your arms - above you, around you, before you, behind you, even under you. Notice your senses in this new bubble.

Now, explore the edges, the boundaries of your bubble. Keep exploring until you find the bruise (the one from being overwhelmed). The bruise isn’t on your skin, it’s on the surface of your bubble. Once you find it, examine it. What kind of bruise is it? A little embarrassed?  A little inadequate?  A bit uncared for?  It’s just you in this bubble, so you can look at that bruise carefully with nobody else watching.

Keep examining and noticing the bruise until it is fully seen. And then that’s it. No need to fix it. Just by seeing it - really seeing it - you’ve given it the space it needs to heal.

Go back to noticing the edges - the boundaries of your bubble. Make sure your personal bubble is big again - as wide as you can reach with your arms in every direction. You made yourself small for a very good reason, but you want to leave this meditation with your personal bubble intact.

Closing Routine: When you are ready, rub fingers together a and take three cleansing breaths. Or find a closing routine that works for you.

Want more?

Using Muscle Memory for Mental Health: Using Mindfulness as a Tool (yogatrailtalks)

Putting the Mind-Body Connection into Reverse: Getting the solar plexus chakra to work for you. (yogatrailtalks)