MINDFULNESS MONDAY!
Today we are going to do a little bit of self-improvement with taking a new perspective on emotions through meditation. With meditation’s help we are able to learn that there is space between our emotions and our awareness of them. When we give ourselves that space, our emotions are able to do their thing and then move on.
When we are experiencing an emotion that is particularly strong, or frustrating, or if we feel that we are ‘stuck’ concerning that emotion, it’s the perfect time to stop and explore.
A suggestion for the week: Meditating on emotions
· Take a comfortable seat in a quiet and safe place.
· Set a timer for 5, 7 or 10 minutes (or more!)
· Close your eyes and choose and emotion to work on. Make that the object of your meditation.
· If working with anger, for example, your intention is to listen, watch and get curious about anger, notice the anger in your body and move towards it.
· Explore all of the qualities and details that you are able to notice about it in your life.
· Anytime you are telling a story about anger, return to the physical sensation of the anger.
· Your goal is to feel the emotion, rather than ruminate about its object, source or history.
· Notice how the emotion physically moves and changes. It is energy- all energy arises, lasts for a while then dissipates.
· Stay with the emotion for the duration of your meditation time.
Here is some extra credit: Some additional thought provoking questions for self-analysis.
· Describe your experience with the emotion in general.
· Why did you choose the emotion you did?
· While observing the emotion, was it easy to pin down or hard to find?
· Try to describe the emotion in your words. You can use sensations, colors, shapes, energy, temperatures, size or whatever comes to mind.
· Was it challenging being present with just the emotion, rather than the story behind it?
· Could you separate the emotion from the story or its object?
· As you watched the emotion, how did it change?
· Did the emotion eventually go away or become impossible to find?
· Do you think this awareness of emotions could benefit you outside of meditation, in your life?
We often choose a negative emotion in an exercise like this because that is what we want to ‘fix’ or change. I suggest doing this exercise again, at another time, focusing on a positive emotion like love, joy, kindness, compassion or gratitude. See what is different in yourself.
Have a great week!