1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,160 Hello hello, this is Sabrina Amina and I am bringing you the feelings pod. 2 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:13,440 If you're listening for the first time, I'm so delighted that you're here and if you're 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,400 coming back again, thank you. 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,560 I'm so grateful that you're here. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:31,000 This episode is on grief and gratitude and I've been moving through so much grief. 6 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:40,760 I don't remember for how long, it's been a while, but I've learned a few things about 7 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:49,000 grief and one of the gifts of grief is that it doesn't exist alone, it doesn't exist 8 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:56,360 in isolation of other emotions. 9 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:03,080 The wonderful thing about all of our emotions is that you can experience profound grief 10 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,400 and profound joy. 11 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:15,400 It's part of the magic of this human experience. 12 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:28,880 You can also, when I allow myself to be with my grief, I just, and the genocide in Gaza 13 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:37,320 has just given me a whole new level, a whole new experience of what it means to be with 14 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:41,920 grief. 15 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:48,880 Moving through grief for me has really been a process of reminding myself and remembering 16 00:01:48,880 --> 00:02:03,040 that although there is grief and despair and melancholy and desperation and hopelessness, 17 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:16,040 there's also this deep gratitude and growing awareness I have of the gifts in my life. 18 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:24,880 I think it's so important to remain connected to our awareness and acknowledgement of these 19 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:37,960 gifts and allow ourselves to be with the deep grief but also find moments when we can fully 20 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:51,360 be with our gratitude and joy and witnessing suffering and experiencing suffering. 21 00:02:51,360 --> 00:03:10,080 It's easy to kind of fall into a pit of despair and over this past year I've really relied 22 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:28,760 a lot on my community, my friends, my daughter, my work, my home. 23 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:44,600 I've leaned on mother nature and her gifts and the magic of movement and allowing myself 24 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:52,320 to move through grief with something, a new process I've been learning called, not process, 25 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:59,160 but new healing modality called body temple dance. 26 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:09,560 I encourage you to check out art of loving on Instagram. 27 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:24,120 As we kind of navigate the darkness of grief, it's like when you find the ability to move 28 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:31,040 and make an attempt to navigate the darkness, I've been bumping into a few things like 29 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:46,120 dance and I had the privilege of going to a retreat recently with my teacher Adriana 30 00:04:46,120 --> 00:05:04,800 Rosolo and Harsha da Wagner and I got to dance through my grief and a lot of conflicting 31 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:06,440 emotions came up. 32 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:18,360 I felt guilt that I have such great privilege that I can go on retreat and dance my worries 33 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:19,360 away. 34 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:25,800 I don't really dance them away, I just kind of sit with them and dance with them and cry 35 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,360 about them and talk about them. 36 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:38,920 I have this privilege, I have that space, I have that great gift in my life and I think 37 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:57,440 with those kinds of gifts, it's also my responsibility to not drown and despair, to not only see 38 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:03,560 grief but also to see the truth. 39 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:09,120 The Palestinians, my Palestinian brothers and sisters have been reminding me of how 40 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:19,000 to find hope and joy and connection and love even in the most desperate of times. 41 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:30,840 So I dedicate this episode to Palestinians and the Palestinian liberation movement. 42 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:39,700 I don't understand why Palestinians are having to pay such a heavy price for their freedom 43 00:06:39,700 --> 00:06:47,080 and for their liberation and for justice and for the right to exist. 44 00:06:47,080 --> 00:07:10,320 But what I know for sure is I have to be able to move through grief in a powerful way and 45 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:30,760 the way to do that is not to forget that there is so much available to me where I am presently. 46 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:48,040 Yeah, so it's just a little short reflection today. 47 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:55,600 Thank you for hearing me, thank you for tuning in, thank you for the gift of your time and 48 00:07:55,600 --> 00:08:05,160 attention, so we'll do a short little body scan practice today. 49 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:13,600 Find a comfortable seat, notice where you are in time and space and just soften into 50 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:26,040 this moment, allow the eyes to close and wherever you are just position yourself in a way that 51 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:37,000 feels maybe 10% more comfortable than you are right now and start to bring awareness 52 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,360 and attention to your breath. 53 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:49,480 You don't necessarily have to do anything to the breath, just noticing it. 54 00:08:49,480 --> 00:09:01,920 I had a beautiful yoga class this morning and the invitation was to notice what it's 55 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:08,080 like to be breathed. 56 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:16,800 You can actively breathe or you can be a witness to the breath. 57 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,200 Choose your own adventure. 58 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:28,680 And as we settle into this moment, feel the weight of gravity keeping you in place in 59 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:29,680 this moment. 60 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:35,800 Feel the weight of your body. 61 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:44,600 Notice where your feet are, notice any sensations in your toes. 62 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:54,280 Bring awareness to the top of your feet, to the bottoms of your feet. 63 00:09:54,280 --> 00:10:06,240 Notice your ankles and stillness is great and movement is great. 64 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:15,920 Notice what the body is asking for in this moment as you bring awareness to your shins 65 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:20,800 and your calves. 66 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:28,320 Notice your knees, allow the breath to move through you. 67 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:41,640 Allow your whole body to be nourished by deep breaths, deep, slow, mindful breaths as you 68 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:51,800 bring your attention to your thighs and your seat. 69 00:10:51,800 --> 00:11:05,000 Notice where your sit bones meet, the cushion beneath you, the ground beneath you, the chair. 70 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:13,000 Bring your awareness to your hips and your belly. 71 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:30,320 Take a deep breath here, pause and let it go. 72 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:36,120 Notice your solar plexus, it's the space just above your belly button and just below the 73 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,120 heart space. 74 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:50,240 Take a deep breath in and let it go. 75 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:56,320 And if you like, you can bring your hands together, rub them together, bring a little warmth 76 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:08,280 between the palms of your hands, rubbing your hands together, noticing what it feels like 77 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:15,160 as you're creating that friction. 78 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:24,440 And when you like, you can gently place the hands over the heart and breathe in here and 79 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:30,560 let it go. 80 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:37,840 Bring your attention to your neck and your shoulders. 81 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:45,960 Noticing the length of your arms, taking a deep breath in, bringing your awareness back 82 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,360 up the arms to the shoulders again. 83 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:56,760 If you'd like to invite a little movement here as well, you're welcome to do so. 84 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:06,200 Breathe in and breathe out. 85 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:13,720 Bring your attention to your neck and jaw and just allow yourself to really soften any 86 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,000 tension that might be present. 87 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:27,880 And it's nice to massage the jaw a little bit with the tips of your fingers. 88 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:35,600 Notice if there's any expression in your face and just let the muscles in your face soften 89 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:51,920 completely, let all expression leave your face. 90 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:58,280 Bring your attention to your third eye, that spot right between your eyebrows. 91 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:02,040 Breathe in. 92 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:07,600 Let it go. 93 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:12,440 Bring your awareness to the crown of your head. 94 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:17,880 Notice your scalp. 95 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:22,240 Notice any hair on your head. 96 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:30,720 Take a deep breath in. 97 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,880 Let it go. 98 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:48,560 And as we close our practice, imagine a bright white light radiating from your center and 99 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:53,720 it envelops your whole body as it radiates outward. 100 00:14:53,720 --> 00:15:08,280 You're creating an energetic protection that allows you to maintain this softness, maintain 101 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:19,440 this ease. 102 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:25,520 Or if you just simply feel like you need a barrier of protection as you move through 103 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:39,280 the day, just imagine this light surrounding you, allowing anything in that you need today 104 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:50,720 and just kind of reflecting away anything that you don't need. 105 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:52,280 My name is Sabrina Amina. 106 00:15:52,280 --> 00:16:00,360 Thank you so much for listening and practicing with me today. 107 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:12,680 Have a wonderful day.