Locating Emotion In The Body

Where Is Your Sad? Locating Emotion In The Body

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Beyond the cafeteria glass was nothing but black. I was called in to teach yoga because the children would not be able to go outside to play sports after school. Yoga, administration reasoned, would keep them busy.

Sometimes the storm outside mirrors the storm inside. Almost every child felt their emotions right at the surface.

“He hurt my feelings.”
“She laughed at me.”
“He doesn’t want to be my friend anymore.”

  Like Alice, we were in danger of drowning in our feelings.

“Does anyone feel like the sky is crying?” I ventured. Two children smiled at me; the rest looked puzzled.

“Who feels like the sky right now?” Peace fingers sprang up indicating “yes”. Close your eyes, I continued, “Take a deep breath and place your hand where your Sad lives”. Elementary-sized hands rested on throats, hearts, bellies, and ears.

“Good. Now, open your eyes. Peace fingers up if you’d like to share where your Sad lives”. Excitedly, each of the 14 students answered in turn.

“Can we visit our Sad?” Nods of agreement. A cowboy-clad boy smiled wide knowing he had the right answer and said, “And we can tell it ‘that’s okay'”. That’s right! Whatever we feel ‘that’s okay’.

We continued the exercise by locating our Nervous, our Scared, and finally our Love.

Can we visit these places? Yes.
Whenever we want? Yes.
Can you sit with Love whenever you want? Yes.

It’s a simple practice, but profoundly transformative. As adults, we tend to prefer the complicated – transcendental meditation, astral projection, past-life regression…

Yet, most of us can’t sit and accept our own feelings, myself included.  One of my greatest challenges is to be okay with not being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed all the time; and to not add Shame to the Sad (a truly toxic concoction).

Locating Emotion In The Body

Now, I ask you –

Where does your Sad live?
Can you place your hand on it?
From an honest place, can you say “that’s okay”?

If you try this practice, for yourself or with children, please write me in the comments.