Mindfulness in emotions Feeling the present moment

The Mindfulness is the ability to lend mindfulness to the present moment. In recent years this term has acquired some relevance in the field of Psychology.

Why is mindfulness important?

Because we have realized that we usually live with the autopilot on. We chatted with a friend and instead of listening to him we remember the discussion we had with our partner this morning. We try to enjoy a Sunday afternoon and instead anticipate how bad we will feel the next day when we wake up at 7 a.m. We miss the present moment, and not only that:

Past excess = depression

Excess of future = anxiety

The present is the only time and place where we can be happy, and yet we tend to leave to situations that generate emotional discomfort.

Today, the present is a gift that we often waste. That is why it is so important to develop the Mindfulness o Full Attention as resource that connects us to the "here and now".

But one thing happens: in that "here and now" of which I speak, there is what happens in the outside world (a look, a smile, a horizon, a sound, a message ...), and what happens in our inner world: our thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Meditate on Emotions

Just as there is a tendency to ignore or underestimate the present moment, we tend to reject our emotions when they are uncomfortable, unpleasant, or upsetting. This is the logical consequence of living in a society that has become too hedonistic: we constantly seek pleasure and avoid pain at all costs.

However, pain is also a part of life, and it is impossible to avoid it always. It is not about avoiding it therefore, but about learning to live with it, learning to live with uncomfortable emotions.

Because in addition, rejection of these emotions does not alleviate the impact they cause us, on the contrary, it multiplies it. Imagine that you argue with someone and, in a somewhat childish outburst, you cover your ears so as not to hear them. What will happen? Sure enough, you will start to scream louder.

Mindfulness in emotions

Mindfulness in emotions is about:

1) pay full attention to our uncomfortable or painful emotions, such as anger, sadness or anxiety

2) without reacting to those emotions, that is, without criticizing or judging us, without rejecting or resisting

3) simply watch I go to the emotion, from outside.

So by doing this, we realize that the emotion is not so bad, that it can even bring a positive message to us. Let us remember that all emotions, also those that are painful, have a function: fear protects, anger energizes, sadness reintegrates.

If we run away from emotion, it follows us, and we have the feeling that it does so to trap us. If we stop in front of her, from an observer role, the emotion arrives, embraces us, and leaves.

The ultimate goal is to connect with emotion, hug her, from a metaphorical sense that invites us to give up resistance to feeling painful emotions, resistance that has as a consequence a greater negative impact on our well-being. We feel worse for realizing that we feel bad, and we are wrong. It is about acquiring awareness therefore that feeling bad, it's not bad, it's just something that happens, without further ado.

In my private practice in Malaga I have been doing regular workshops since 2014 Mindfulness in emotions, and the reception is being very good. The most important thing is that the people who attend these workshops leave wanting to practice at home. And it is that we live the era with the most external stimuli ever (Internet, mobiles, Social Networks, advertising, TV ...). Stimuli that take us further and further away from ourselves.

Hence the importance of regain contact with our inner world.