It’s very human to avoid unpleasant experiences. When it comes to emotions, there are some unpleasant ones that we really prefer not to have anything to do with. Typically labeled as “negative emotions,” they are difficult feelings such as shame, jealousy, disappointment, sadness, and anger. We avoid those emotions in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, sometimesContinue reading “What Are Our Emotions Telling Us?”
Tag Archives: emotions
How Do I Develop Acceptance?
Human beings have likes and dislikes. When confronted with an experience that we dislike, we often do what we can to prevent, avoid, or minimize it. Whether it is an internal experience like emotions/sensations or an external experience like social interaction, if it makes us uncomfortable, we have countless ways to avoid it. What happensContinue reading “How Do I Develop Acceptance?”
How Do I Work with Anger?
Anger is a common human emotion, like sadness, happiness, disgust, and fear. Anger has a few different flavors. On one end of the spectrum, there’s fiery rage and seething anger. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s frustration and impatience, which are more subtle forms of anger. Anger has negative effects on both intrapersonalContinue reading “How Do I Work with Anger?”
How Do I Work with Strong Emotions?
Mindfulness practice is simply watching everything appear and disappear in this moment. Emotions, like everything else, appear and disappear on their own. With mindfulness training, we can just watch them come and go, without getting pulled in different directions. Emotions become difficult and create suffering when they are not able to come and go naturally,Continue reading “How Do I Work with Strong Emotions?”
How Do I Work with Fear and Anxiety?
Practicing mindfulness with fear and anxiety is to bring nonjudgmental awareness to our experience in the present moment. That means paying attention to our fear and anxiety in a particular way, consistent with the mindfulness technique. We typically do two things with thoughts and emotions, or anything that arises in our consciousness: Hold on toContinue reading “How Do I Work with Fear and Anxiety?”