Practicing mindfulness of emotions: What does it look like? Therapist answers

Sitting with difficult emotions takes a lot of patience, understanding and calmness. Often, we run away from the emotions that make us feel overwhelmed, angry and frustrated. Feelings of loss, grief, anger, fear and loneliness can make us feel helpless at times. However, if we learn to be mindful and treat the emotions gently, as we sit with them and allow ourselves to feel them completely, we can help manage them better. Therapist Gianna LaLota wrote, “Holding space for difficult emotions and working through them takes gentleness and curiosity.”
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A post shared by Gianna LaLota | NYC Therapist (@mindfultherapynyc)
Instead of fearing what the emotions may make us feel, we should be curious about how the emotion originated and what is the underlying feeling. Being curious about our emotions can help us to know the deep-rooted reasons.
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At no point should we judge our own feelings, we should consciously create a safe space within ourselves where we can allow ourselves to feel and think what we want. This will help us to become more self-aware.
Emotions can show up as physical sensations in the body. Be it a rushing heartbeat or nausea, or palpitations, we should feel the physical sensations, and how a particular emotion can make us feel.
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One of the primary things we need to remember while being mindful about our emotions is that we cannot resist them – when we resist difficult emotions, they show up later as intense reactions, we should, instead, welcome our emotions and learn to sit with them.
We should internalise the thought that n emotion is permanent – this will help us to deal with all kinds of difficult emotions with a positive perspective. When we learn to welcome the emotions, become aware of the underlying reasons and learn to manage them, we can have a better perspective on everything.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.