Emotions are tricky. In the past I have felt like I have tried to hold onto the good ones and run away from the bad ones. The problem with that approach is the good ones seem to slip through my fingers pretty quickly and the bad ones seem to lurk about in the dark corners of my mind, more often than not resulting in an intense headache!

I’ve since realised that this is not a helpful way to think about it. Attaching positive and negative charge around emotions distracts from their true purpose.

In digging more deeply into emotions and feelings I’ve discovered some interesting things:

Emotions and feelings are information

Nothing more and nothing less. The trick is understanding the underlying message. A simple technique to work with both emotions and feelings is to practice bodily awareness. This can be done using the following simple technique:

1.      Notice what is happening in my body?

Take your attention inwards and ask yourself ‘how am I feeling in this moment?’ What feeling or emotion do you recognise? Also notice how your body physically feels? Do you notice any associated tension, aching, heaviness or numbness or anything else?

2.      How am I interpreting this feeling?

Notice what your subjective thoughts about this feeling are. Ask yourself if this is your normal reaction, suggesting a particular pattern of behaviour that you have developed?

3.      Is there another option?

Can you decide to react with curiosity? Being curious as to what this feeling might tell you objectively takes some of the heat out of the situation and opens up new possibilities. Ask yourself questions to gather more information so that you can decide to take a more conscious and objective response.