One of the best ways I’ve learned to balance my emotions and create peace in my life is by meditating. The feeling is so subtle you don’t realize the difference that meditating makes until you’ve practiced it for a while.
I look back years ago at myself in disbelief. Once upon a time, I was anxious and stressed, and somewhere along the way, I lost that. I can’t pinpoint the day or time, but I know that used to be me before I meditated.
I’m not the only one; I’ve read where others have said that after a year of practicing meditation that their life was completely changed.
I know what you are thinking; you don’t have time to meditate. However, even spending five minutes a day in meditation can do wonders for you.
I meditate for fifteen to 30 minutes in the morning when I first get up and then another fifteen to thirty minutes in the evening. I’ve even meditated in my car during my lunch hour. That is the great thing about meditating; you get to choose where, how long, when, and it’s all beneficial.
This week we are still working on our inner peace, and therefore, I want to share a meditation that brings awareness to our emotions. When we acknowledge our emotions, we can better process them. When we process our emotions better, we become happier.
Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them. – Eckhart Tolle
This week’s mindfulness challenge is to meditate on our emotions.
Sit in a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed.
Take a few moments to focus on your breathing. Take deep breaths in and out through your nose.
Check-in with your emotions and ask yourself, “what am I feeling?” Let whatever emotion come to the surface. When it does, name it. (i.e., happy, sad, excited, anxious, hopeless, etc.)
Next, with your emotion in mind, do a body scan, and see if you can find the area where this emotion resides. For example, as I’m sitting here typing this, I’ve been writing all day and my shoulders are hurting. My emotion would be “tired,” and I feel this in my shoulders the most.
Observe this feeling. Is it positive, negative, or somewhere in between?
Now accept this emotion without judgment or trying to change it. For me, I would say something like, “I accept that I’m tired and it’s ok that I am.”
Think about this emotion and see if you notice it linked to events from the past. For instance, if your emotion is sadness, can you recall any past experience that could be the source of sadness?
If there are, examine that and see if you can identify the story behind this feeling.
When we identify the root of why we are feeling this way, we can better understand our emotions and why we have them.
As you sit quietly, focus on your breathing again. Remind yourself that you are not your emotions. For instance, I used to say I was an anxious person. However, I am not anxious. Being anxious is only an emotion that I felt during a certain time when I couldn’t handle what was happening around me. When I realized this, I knew I could change it, and I did. I no longer feel anxious.
You are not broken. You are only feeling a certain way at this moment. Our emotions come and go; they don’t define who we are. – Ela
If your emotion was sad, you could breathe in saying something like “Breathing in I am sad, breathing out I am happy.”
Continue focusing on your breath for the remainder of your meditation.
When you finished, reflect on what you learned. There is no wrong way to do this meditation. You are allowing yourself to be whatever emotion you are without judging it. You get to choose if you want to turn that emotion into something more positive or not.
To get the benefit of meditating, challenge yourself to meditate, focusing on your breath (breathing in and out) for 5 minutes a day for 21 days. If your mind starts to wander, gently refocus back on your breath. And be kind to yourself, no judging when you meditate! You can print out your mindfulness challenge worksheet here.
Over the last five weeks, we have gone over several challenges to improve our well-being and inner peace. I hope that these have helped and that you continue to work in this area. I believe the moment we start to love ourselves and take care of our well-being, everything else in our life starts to balance out.
Starting next week, we will focus on balancing our social and family relationships.
If you or someone you know would benefit from these mindfulness challenges, please sign up for our mailing list here. I would love for you to be a part of our mindful tribe.
Other articles you may have missed from this past week:
I Am, A Meditation to Discover You and Soothe Your Soul
I Am: My Meditation of Truth, Self-Love, and Forgiveness
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