Processing Intense Emotions, with Kessonga

(whooshing sound) (mouse clicking) (tranquil music) Headspace Studios. Hey, folks. All right, buckle up because we have another episode of "Dear Headspace." So today I'm sitting with Kessonga and we are joined by Samantha who is a clinician here at Headspace. And we have some really great questions from our listeners today. Okay, there's a question about how to create a sense of belonging. Also, a question about how to not feel guilty if you say no to a favor. And we have one about intense emotions that come up while meditating. So let's get right to it. Have you ever wished you had a wise meditation teacher on speed dial? Someone you can call after a long day. Someone you could lean on for their advice. Someone to listen and help you to see things differently. Welcome to "Dear Headspace," a podcast where I sit with a meditation teacher and we answer your questions. Hi, friends. How's everybody doing today? Doing well, doing well, Robin. Greetings, greetings, everyone. So happy to be here. I'm doing really good today. I'm excited about being on "Dear Headspace" for the first time, so I'm ready to just get into it. I'll tell you what, we are so excited to have you here with us. Absolutely. I mean, you know me, I'm just like, more voices, more help. It's all good. That's how I look at it. It's a party, Right? (all laughing) Well, it's funny that we're like talking about it like this because our first question, it's all about creating a sense of home or belonging, which is, you know, for me, something I always feel right here at "Dear Headspace." So here is Nadia with our first question. Dear Headspace, my name is Nadia. I'm from Italy but I've been living in Australia for the past eight years, and I've been feeling the need to go back home and to be with my family, but unfortunately, when I'm there, I don't feel like I belong there. So my question is how do you create a sense of belonging or how do you feel at home? Well, thank you for that question, Nadia. You know what's interesting is this is a question that we get a lot, which is why I think it's important that we keep answering the question because so often people, you know, either they've moved somewhere or they're just out of college and they're starting a career somewhere. Like, there's just a million different reasons and people end up in new areas and they don't have community. So I think it's such a great question, but this is like an even deeper version of it, of like how do you find belonging or home? It's a bit paradoxical, right? Because she's saying that she's away from her family and she's missing them tremendously. But at the same time, when she is with them, she doesn't feel that belonging, she feels like an outsider in a way. What I'm hearing...