The role of emotional awareness in our life

Sarita explains a meditation called Becoming the Emotions, a technique she had learned from Osho

My journey into emotional awareness began when I was just 12 years old, attending a unique and experimental alternative to traditional schooling known as the ‘Free School.’ It was 1967, a time of change and free thought, just before the emergence of the hippie movement.

In this innovative school, a transformative therapy called the ‘Encounter Group’ was offered to parents, teachers, and adolescent students alike. The therapist provided a brave space for individuals to release their pent-up anger, sadness, and emotional turmoil. It created an environment where emotions came to the surface, resulting in a cathartic release of stagnant emotions.

As a shy and introverted child, expressing myself was always a challenge. However, during one of these encounter groups, I found myself reaching my boiling point rather quickly.

In a moment of emotional eruption, I screamed out my rage at my mother, sharing with her the painful truth of being sexually abused by a family member for years. I accused her of being an oblivious parent, unaware of my suffering. My revelation shocked her, and she broke down in uncontrollable tears. In that vulnerable moment, we found solace in each other’s arms, experiencing a profound and healing connection.

This pivotal experience ignited my exploration of emotional fluidity and conscious emotional release as an integral part of my life’s journey. Being in the presence of Osho during the 70s and 80s provided me with an extraordinary opportunity to delve deep into emotional release and catharsis within the context of meditation and mindfulness.

Osho, a remarkable spiritual master, emphasized the necessity of embracing emotions consciously as a precursor to silent meditation. For years, I enquired into the nuances of emotional fluidity, recognizing its significance in spiritual growth, and came to understand that, just as we have various weather patterns in the outer world to maintain a dynamic balance in our environment, we also have a range of emotional expressions to sustain equilibrium within ourselves.

A master key to unlocking our potential for spiritual liberation lies in diving into our emotions as a deliberate practice of consciousness. In every group I teach, I witness the profound need for these tools to help individuals tap into their potential for a vibrant, flowing, and nurturing life. Our society often fears and suppresses emotions, perpetuating a culture of suppression rather than expression. Yet, whatever we fear and suppress gains power over us.

By learning to express emotions consciously, we attain a state of wholeness. It is in this space that our inherent capacity for bliss finds room to breathe. We liberate ourselves from the shackles of the past, opening up to the present and unlocking our potential for a vibrant, passionate, and creative life.

Becoming the Emotions

I would like to share with you a technique I learned from Osho, called, Becoming the Emotions. Here’s how it works:

Prepare a mat or carpet on the floor. Have a large cushion and a small cushion close by.
Open your arms to the sky and call in divine consciousness for your exploration into emotional fluidity.
As you open to emotional expression, be completely fluid. Move your body, use your voice and make faces. Allow every kind of emotion to move through you in waves, sometimes fear, and you allow trembling, sometimes anger and you can beat the large cushion, shouting No! — sometimes sadness and you can writhe around, wailing in grief, sometimes joy and belly laughter, sometimes expressing stress and agitation. Continue expressing multiple emotions in cycles for 20 minutes.
Sit in silent meditation on your smaller cushion with crossed legs and straight back. Become a witness of body, mind and emotions as an impartial observer. 20 minutes.
Bow down in gratitude.
For long-lasting inner peace, practice this meditation at least 7 times.