In this week’s Well-Being Tip, how to identify your emotions to cultivate awareness.
Many of us seek the support of meditation in hopes that it will make our challenging emotions more manageable. If you’ve suffered from a lifetime of anxious thoughts, perhaps you have turned to meditation to lessen or even escape these emotions. But, did you know that you can actually use your emotions themselves as anchors to mindfulness? You have the potential to harness your feelings, the pleasant or unpleasant, to support your cultivation of the skill of awareness. You can do this at any time and anywhere – but it may be most helpful at those moments when you find it difficult to ignore an emotional reaction.
Here’s how:
- Step 1: Naming Feelings and Emotions.
- Take a moment to tune in to any feelings that are present in this moment. Notice your current emotional state.
- Next, see if you can find a word to describe it, or “name” it. Are you relaxed? Anxious? Excited? Angry? Whatever it is, name it in your mind, “I am feeling worried,” or “I am feeling bored.”
- Step 2: Explore Feelings and Emotions.
- Take whatever you are feeling and notice how it manifests in your body. When you begin to notice these sensations, you can silently make a mental note of where you are feeling it. For example, “tightness in the shoulders.” Just note the bare experience, not how you feel about it.
- Now notice how feelings manifest in the mind and once again, make another mental note, “thinking,” or “seeing images.”
- And lastly, explore the background emotional tone of your experience, like “this feeling is unpleasant.”
- Step 3: Be with your Feelings and Emotions.
- In this step you let the naming and exploring go and rest in open awareness with your feelings. Let feelings float by, like clouds in the sky.
You might find yourself becoming distracted while you do this practice. That’s OK! Just gently bring yourself to the three steps, one-by-one.
Instead of fighting or ignoring your emotions, directing your attention toward them can be a profoundly useful experience. Keep in mind that we’re not trying to change our feelings. For this exercise, we need them!
You can always use our guided Mindfulness of Emotions practice in the Healthy Minds Program app, or try this 10 minute seated version.
As you continue to practice this skill, it will become easier to tune into your feelings in the moment and it can transform how you relate to strong emotions in the future.
Get more practices and tips by downloading the Healthy Minds Program App, freely available thanks to the generosity of our donors wherever you get your apps.
