Mindfulness of emotions practice can help us to enjoy a greater sense of inner stability. Most people think of meditation when they hear the word mindfulness, but mindfulness practice isn’t just about sitting. It can be practiced in any moment of the day and in relation to any act of doing or state of being. Though sitting meditation practice is a fertile training ground for learning mindfulness skills, the practice of mindfulness really is about everyday mindfulness. It’s about realizing over and over again that we’ve left the present moment and have become lost in stories about the past or worries about the future, coming back home to ourselves again and again and learning to stay at home in ourselves, awake to the present moment.
Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment with kindness and curiosity. What this means is that when we’re being mindful, instead of becoming our thoughts, emotions, or experience and feeling consumed by them, we’re observing them with spacious awareness, kindness, and interest.
Mindfulness of emotions can be a skillful means for managing one’s mood and coping with difficult emotions. A word of caution, though, is that if you have a history of trauma, engaging in sitting meditation without proper instruction from a teacher who is skilled in working with people with trauma could result in flashbacks, emotional flooding, and suicidal ideations. A history of trauma doesn’t preclude you from meditating. It’s just important to work with a meditation teacher who is skillful in working with people with trauma who can assist you in creating anchors and refuges prior to beginning a sitting meditation practice.
A good beginning point in practicing mindfulness of emotions is to practice checking in with yourself throughout the day and noticing how you’re feeling. Once you become aware of your feelings, name them silently to yourself, for instance, “joy” or “sadness.” Then silently ask yourself, “Where am I experiencing this feeling in my body?” Notice the area of the body that is holding the emotion. Then ask, “What is the quality of these sensations?” (tight, warm, relaxed, constricted, hot, cold, etc). Try to keep your attention focused on the sensations in your body, and notice whether they change or stay the same.
As you become more skilled at mindfulness of emotions practice, it gets easier to call on the practice in a moment of experiencing difficult thoughts or emotions. Maintaining the attention on the experience in the body helps to keep you grounded in the present moment and helps you to step out of the storyline about the past or the future.
If you have a history of trauma, or if you’re experiencing difficult thoughts or emotions on a frequent basis, consider working with a psychotherapist who practices mindfulness based psychotherapy. Many psychotherapists who are trained in teaching mindfulness are practicing mindfulness-based psychotherapy to assist people with managing anxiety, PTSD, obsessive thoughts, chronic pain, and depression.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction training has been shown to decrease psychological and physiological symptoms related to a number of medical conditions; Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy is being used successfully to prevent relapses of depressive episodes; and Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention is being used to prevent relapses of addiction.
Jen Johnson is a mindfulness therapist and coach teaching meditation for healing and creative awakening. Learn more about working with Jen.