When a strong feeling comes up, it will often be accompanied by a strong habitual pattern, writes Pema Chodron in her book How To Meditate. The pattern may be justification, defence, a story of avoidance or pleasure. The invitation is to wake up from this habitual pattern to dissolve the hold emotions have over us. It is done by breathing with the emotion, not labelling it as bad or good. So go to our experience and feel it directly with the breath rather than launching into a conceptual strategy of avoidance or reaction. If you just go to the breath without experiencing the emotion as well, this can be repressing emotions. So choosing not to act out by speaking, acting or dong. Neither choosing not to repress. We are simply watching and breathing with the emotion.
Breathe, by Timothy
My breath is my anchor
I return there for peace
Uninvited emotions
Yet together they meet
A chest wide disruption
An intensifying beat
Until a grateful exhale
Kicks them out on the street
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Tuqa Nabi, Unsplash
Kindermind Center 