At its core, mindfulness is about being what you are, going with the flow, and allowing your body and mind to stay in the present moment.
Mindfulness and awareness of emotions can help us learn to accept emotions rather than habitually resisting, ignoring, or suppressing them.
At the same time, we have the opportunity to objectively understand our own emotional feelings in the process of contemplating the emotions of the moment, rather than automatically distinguishing them into good and bad, positive and negative, positive and negative emotional states.
Quietly observe the emotions themselves, allowing them to rise, change and dissipate freely. Don't cling to it, and don't react with emotions.
Here are a few mindfulness-based approaches to help us better respond to "negative" emotions:
First, observe emotions without judgment.
We can try to think of emotions as temporary states of mind, allowing them to come and go freely. In the present moment, we just quietly observe the emotions themselves, without any analysis or judgment.
Second, accepting emotions is the first step in responding to negative emotions.
Don't try to resist or ignore your emotional feelings, but accept them as a real part of the present moment.
In addition, we can use the breath as an anchor point to help us return to the present moment.
When you realize that you are stuck in the quagmire of emotions, by observing the feeling of inhaling and exhaling in the present moment, you will let your attention return from the attachment and restraint of emotions to the physical and mental experience of the present, so as to get rid of emotional distress and calm down.
At the same time, we can also try to label emotions.
When the body and mind feel a strong emotion rise, try to silently mark the "emotion". It doesn't think about the specific content of the emotion, and it doesn't follow the emotion and react automatically. In this way, we are not easily caught in the vortex of emotions.
If the emotions you feel are not strong, you can mark them from a third perspective. For example, "I feel discomfort in my abdomen now", "I feel irritable and restless now", etc. Objectively describing one's emotional state will not only alleviate emotional distress, but also allow us to clearly see the inherent patterns of emotional responses.
Maintaining a non-reactive attitude is also key to coping with emotions.
Do not be driven by emotions to make unconscious or automatic behavioral responses. When we realize that we are reacting to our emotions, observing our breath in the moment can bring us back to the present moment.
Finally, we need to learn self-care.
When we feel emotionally distressed, be gentle with ourselves and love ourselves as if we were a good friend. Especially when suffering from severe psychological distress, self-care can help us regain our inner sense of strength and have the courage and confidence to face life's challenges.
Emotion management