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Meditation was difficult because I was feeling so emotional -- some strong feelings came up...
Sometimes strong emotions can come up while meditating. As the body relaxes in meditation, emotions that have been held in (either from a current situation or from the past) can start to be released.
Often our life circumstances haven't allowed us to feel or express all of our emotions and they get "stored" inside. It takes energy and effort to hold those emotions in, and when we relax in meditation, that holding in is relaxed. One way to understand this is to imagine that you are in a situation that makes you want to cry or laugh but you can't because it's a place where you can't make noise or display emotion. If you can get into another place, even another room, you may burst out in tears or laughter. You can do this because you are able to relax and let go. In meditation, we can relax and let go.
If you are experiencing an emotion that is so strong that you cannot bring your awareness to your breath, you can simply allow the feeling to be in your awareness. Don't try to resist the emotion or push it out. Allow it to be felt fully. Simply be with it and when it subsides enough to become aware of the breath again, then bring your awareness back to your breath.
Copyright 2008 Mary and Richard Maddux
