Suffering Is Optional: Meeting Emotions with an Awakened Heart

Part 1: Emotions in the Body

Apr 29, 2018 PDT

We’ll begin by investigating exactly what an emotion is. If you label an experience as “sadness,” “fear,” or “anger,” if you’re experiencing emotional pain, what is actually happening in your mind and body? It helps to become an expert in how emotions appear in you. In this session:

• You will take the courageous step of turning your attention toward your experience so you can get familiar with the direct experience of emotions;
• We will explore how emotions are held in the body.
• We will look into the biology of emotion so you know what’s happening in your brain, body, and nervous system when you feel an emotion; and
• We will practice deep, conscious breathing as a way into your direct experience.

Duration: 1 hours, 30 minutes

Part 2: How do you resist emotions? Let me count the ways.

May 6, 2018 PDT

As humans, we have come up with myriad ways to resist turning toward our feelings. This resistance is at the root of addictions, compulsive behaviors, and any uneasiness we experience. We’re afraid we’ll get lost in pain forever or fearful that we won’t be able to survive what we discover. In this session:

• We’ll uncover the fears you have about directly experiencing emotions;
• You’ll be invited to reflect within so you can clearly see how you avoid, ignore, or hide from your emotions;
• You’ll come to understand how not moving in the face of emotion is an essential choice on the path of awakening; and
• We’ll continue to explore emotions in the physical body as a way to move through resistance. The more we create the space to welcome physical sensations, the more the deep layers of emotion are invited to come to awareness for liberation.

You’ll be offered experiments and reflections to support you to welcome emotions out of the shadows of fear and unconsciousness and befriend them with infinite openheartedness.

Duration: 1 hours, 30 minutes

Part 3: Untangling the story

May 13, 2018 10:00am - 11:30am PDT

The narrative you tell yourself in your mind about your feelings is a form of resistance that keeps you stuck. If you go to the core of any moment of psychological pain, you’ll find unexamined emotions. Together, we’ll honor stories from your past and other habitual thought patterns while looking into the nature of thoughts and thinking. In this session:

• You’ll learn about the nature of thought. What is a thought? What keeps us stuck in our heads?
• We’ll go over common repetitive thought patterns (judgments, comparisons, expectations, self-criticisms) so you can recognize them and explore to discover the underlying emotion; and
• We will practice coming home to the openness that is already effortlessly at peace regardless of the emotions that are present.

Ultimately, you’ll be able to soften the attachment to the content of thoughts and meet emotions with the deepest acceptance. Then you’re open to realizing what is always true and present beyond all stories.

Duration: 1 hours, 30 minutes