Step out of auto-pilot mode
and into this present moment
by enjoying 3 mindful breaths
image by M. Lee Freedman
“There are moments in life that are hard, painful, scary and difficult to endure. There are times when we feel anger, anxiety, grief, embarrassment, stress, remorse or other negative emotions.
In these trying times we often want to escape the pain, drown it out or push it away somehow. We may begin a mental struggle with the pain trying to mentally talk our way out of it, or we distract ourselves with activities or drown it out with food or drink or something stronger.
All these ways of avoiding pain only perpetuate it in the long run. Avoidance creates suffering and keeps us from living fully this miraculous and precious life that we have.
Through mindfulness you can learn to turn your negative emotions into your greatest teachers and sources of strength.
How?
Instead of ‘turning away’ from pain in avoidance we can learn to gently ‘turn towards’ what we’re experiencing. We can bring a caring open attention towards the wounded parts of ourselves and make wise choices about how to respond to ourselves and to life.
It’s a paradox that we all must understand: It is by turning towards negative emotions that we find relief from them – not by turning away.”
-Melli O’Brien (excerpt from post How to Use Mindfulness to Work With Negative Emotions)
To read the full post including a six step process for mindfully dealing with difficult emotions, please follow this link: http://mrsmindfulness.com/mindfulness-for-negative-emotions/
Wishing you equanimity and self-compassion
as you become aware of challenging thoughts and emotions today
Lee
M. Lee Freedman, MD,CM, FRCP(C)
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