Can mindfulness transform feelings? — a how-to from Psych Central. First three steps:
- Sit quietly and bring your attention towards your feelings. Notice the emotion that you’re stuck in and name it. For example, you might say to yourself I’m feeling angry or enraged or afraid.
- Don’t try to push your emotion away. Welcome your emotion. You might want to imagine it as a traveler that has come to your door. In your mind, say hello and ask your emotion how it is doing.
- It might seem counterintuitive to sit with and welcome an emotion that you’re trying to rid yourself of. But the act of mindfully attending to your emotion helps you to create some distance. It allows you to be with your emotion without reacting to it.