Meditation · Mindfulness
Mindfulness of Emotions
Turn toward the emotion the way you'd turn toward the breath
Turning attention toward an emotion the way you'd turn toward the breath — with curiosity and without agenda. Different from thinking ABOUT the emotion.
The emotion I'm sitting with
Where in the body — location, size, temperature, shape
Its edges — clear or diffuse?
What does it want (fight, flee, hide, be held)?
Watching over time
Minute
Intensity 0–10
Body location
Note
Emotions have half-lives
An emotion actually met — not fought, not fed — usually shifts within 90 seconds. What we call 'a bad day' is usually a 90-second emotion refreshed by thought a thousand times.