Stop Avoiding! We Need to Approach Negative Emotions
And use one of our greatest tools to heal.
After the initial sour tears and lurching in my belly, I lay in bed, wipe the dampness off my face and take a deep breath. And this is all I do for a few moments.
Breathe in. And out.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Through the nose and out of the mouth.
It sounds so simple, I know… but it’s powerful.
I watch those feelings rise and fall like ocean tides. I ride the wave.
No more gasping or grasping. I put my hand on my stomach and continue to center my attention around the breathing and all of its sensations. And even if it’s just a little bit, I start to relax.
It’s called Being Mindful of An Emotion
Mindfulness of Emotion is a skill which springs from Dialectical Behavior Therapy, an intensive form of cognitive therapy which emphasizes Mindfulness and borrows principles from Zen Buddhist philosophy.
Deep Breathing restores oxygen to the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that makes rational decisions.
When these negative thoughts come up, especially when we have a history of physical…
