The Power of Mindfulness of Emotions

A Modern Day Superpower

Dear Friend,

This week, we’ll dive into the third foundation of mindfulness. Mindfulness of emotions. The past two weeks, we’ve gone through the first two foundations of mindfulness, mindfulness of the body and mindfulness of thought, in anticipation of a course I’m teaching that starts on July 12th.

With that said, let’s get right into it.

What does it mean to be mindful of emotions?

Mindfulness of emotions is an awareness of your emotions as they arise.

It’s the recognition of anger when your fists or jaws are clenched in response to something that pisses you off. It’s the recognition of the lump in your throat or pain in your gut when you’re hit with the saddest news in an unexpected moment.

However, that’s just the beginning.

Mindfulness of emotions is a process.

The second layer of mindfulness is responding to your emotions, not reacting.

For example, maybe you were recently cut off in traffic, and your immediate reaction was to shout, “What the fuck are you doing?” This is a natural and potentially appropriate reaction.

But there was no awareness of the anger; there was simply a reaction.

In that same case, when we apply mindfulness, there is a response. You get cut off, and you feel your teeth at the front of your bottom lip ready to explode, but then you realize, and perhaps say to yourself in your mind, “Oh, anger.”

And instead of reacting in a way that amplifies the anger, you respond in a way that allows you to let it go and not ruin the rest of your commute.

3 reasons why your mental health will improve with mindfulness of emotions

Reason 1: Understanding impermanence

We struggle with emotions when we believe they’re permanent.

When we believe our emotions are permanent, we feel stuck and hopeless, which I’ll elaborate on in the next section. It creates a belief that we’re the victims of our circumstances. Thankfully, when we become mindful of our emotions, we learn that emotions are impermanent.

And that deep understanding gives us the strength to weather emotional turbulence.

Reason 2: Getting unstuck

Emotional distress arises when we feel stuck.

We can feel stuck in anxiety, stuck in depression, stuck in sadness, stuck in anger, or any other emotion for that matter. This feeling of stuckness forces our feelings and beliefs of powerlessness, which I’ll discuss more in the next section.

Luckily, the more mindful of our emotions we become, the less stuck we are.

Reason 3: Empowerment

Our mental health declines when we feel powerless.

Fortunately, mindfulness of emotions grants us a sense of empowerment because we start to recognize and believe we have more agency over our emotional responses. We may not be able to control emotions, but we can respond in ways that don’t destroy our well-being or our relationship with ourselves and others.

And that is empowering.

3 tips to practice being mindful of your emotions

Tip 1: Noticing

Noticing an emotion breaks the trance of getting stuck in it.

You can notice an emotion by checking in with your body or recognizing a thought that has a specific emotional charge. I practice this by checking my heart rate or noticing if my jaw is clenched because those are signs I might be angry. I also try to recognize if certain thoughts coincide with that bodily sensation.

Those practices help me label the emotion that’s present.

Tip 2: Labeling

Labeling is a way to get intimate with your emotions.

To label an emotion is what it sounds like. You simply name the emotion you feel is present in you. There’s no right or wrong way to label because it’s your emotional experience, so trust your intuition when a label arises. That intimacy allows you to understand what causes certain emotions to arise.

Having that understanding is the first step in becoming emotionally responsive.

Tip 3: Allowing

Allowing emotions gives them the space to work through their lifespan.

Every emotion is born, lives, and dies. Some emotions feel like they last forever because we fixate on them or try to get rid of them through suppression. Neither of those is a great long-term strategy. But you can allow them to work through you after a label by being with the emotion until it subsides.

The good news is that most emotions last 30-90 seconds.

Are you brave enough to weather the storm?

Before You Go, Here’s How You Can Help

If this resonated with you, please consider the following:

1. Sharing this piece with a friend

2. Commenting with a takeaway

3. Practicing generosity and buying me a coffee. I’m keeping these writings free because I don’t want money to interfere with people’s access to mindfulness

Here’s How I Can Help You

I’m launching a mindfulness course on the four foundations of mindfulness to empower people with practical tools to manage stress and change their relationship with themselves.

The course is set to launch on July 12th.

Reply “course” to this email or private message me on Substack if you’d like to learn more.