Mindfulness of Emotions

Mindfulness Practices Mindfulness of Emotions

What is it?

Body-Scan

The mindfulness of emotions meditation is designed to help get you in touch with your inner emotional landscape. We often give value labels to our emotions, calling some ‘good’ (such as happiness or excitement) and others ‘bad’ (such as anxiety or sadness). Mindfulness is about coming to the realisation that feelings are not good or bad, they are just feelings; it is the label that we give to them that effects the way we experience them. This exercise is aimed at helping you notice your emotions and the physical sensations that often accompany them. When these feelings arise, mindfulness teaches us to accept them, without judging or trying to change them.

What are the Benefits?

By practicing mindfulness of emotions, you can increase your ability to understand, recognise and accept your emotional experiences. This exercise can help to show you that emotions will come and go, and that even the most intense feelings will eventually pass, without you needing to try to change them.

It is common for our emotions to ‘hook’ us into a storyline. For example, when feeling anger, we may ruminate over how someone has wronged us, or how unfair the world is. Going over and over these stories in our minds is likely to just prolong and intensify the anger. By learning to recognise and accept our emotions, we can remove ourselves from this consuming story and avoid being taken over by its message.

How can I do it?

Below, we have provided links to guided meditations that you can either download or stream. There are 5 minute and 10 minute mindfulness of emotions practices for you to try. Using a guided meditation is not essential to practicing mindfulness, however may make it easier when you are first starting out. Later, when you feel comfortable, you are encouraged to practice mindfulness without the guided MP3’s, as a way to further develop the skills. Although there is no best way to practice mindfulness, below are some suggestions that may help make your practice easier (mindfulness enablers), and that may get in the way of your practice (mindfulness barriers). Remember that everyone is different and so it’s important to recognise what does and doesn’t work for your own practice.

Mindfulness Enablers

  • Before the practice, take a few moments to remind yourself of your commitment to mindfulness and what it means to you. Particularly check in with your commitment to this practice; ask yourself “am I committed to fully dedicating myself to this practice; here and now”Find a calm, quiet place where you are unlikely to be disturbed
  • Maintain a relaxed but alert position with your eyes closed lightly or focused gently ahead (you may prefer to lie down during the exercise; just ensure that you are not falling asleep!)
  • Notice any thoughts or judgments that arise. You may feel as though you want to hold onto ‘positive’ emotions and avoid the ‘negative’ ones; this is a natural response, just notice these thoughts and then return your attention back to your emotional experience
  • It may be helpful to name your emotion; this can help reduce its intensity by disentangling from it and recognising it for what it is
  • In preparation for this practice, it can be good to consciously ‘open up’ and invite the experience of emotions

Mindfulness Barriers

  • Try to minimise distractions (it may be helpful to put your phone onto airplane mode or to use headphones to listen to the practice)This practice may be overwhelming at first, so focusing on a less intense emotion may make the practice a little bit less challenging to start with
  • Sometimes we may find it hard to identify any emotions. Don’t let this dissuade you, explore subtler emotions that may be present instead
  • Practice non-identifying with the emotion, if you recognise a feeling of anxiety, try telling yourself that you are feeling anxious rather than that you are anxious
  • Choose the time of day that best suits you, if you leave it until too late at night you may have difficulty staying awake and if you practice after a big meal it may affect your concentration; experiment with different times until you find one that feels most right

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