Everyone has felt difficult emotions—sadness, anger, fear, jealousy—and no one wants to feel them. But these powerful feelings can be overwhelming and make it difficult for you to live the life you want. If you are dealing with difficult emotions and want to learn how to respond in a more mindful way, this is the article for you! We’ll discuss what mindfulness is, give some tips on how to practice mindfulness in your daily life and then offer ideas on how to deal with difficult emotions mindfully.
1. Turn toward your emotions with acceptance.
When you’re feeling upset or stressed, it can be tempting to ignore your emotions and focus on what’s going wrong in your life. But this approach will only make things worse: You’ll feel more isolated and depressed, which makes it even harder to deal with your emotions. Instead of pushing away difficult feelings, turn toward them with acceptance. In other words, allow yourself to experience whatever emotion is there without judgment or criticism; accept that these feelings are part of being human! If they’re overwhelming at first (and they often are), start by identifying what specific emotion(s) you’re experiencing at any given moment–for example: “I’m angry” or “I’m sad.” Then take a few deep breaths while getting into an upright posture (standing up straight helps) so that the blood flow increases throughout your body; this will help calm down any anxiety related symptoms such as racing heartbeats or trembling hands/feet etc.
2. Identify and label the emotion.
Emotions are often described as feelings or moods. They are a natural part of life, but can sometimes be challenging to deal with. To help you identify and label your emotions, use one of these methods:
- Use a word or phrase to describe the emotion (e.g., “I feel angry”).
- Rate how you feel on a feeling scale (e.g., 1 = not at all and 10 = extremely).
- Use a mood meter that rates emotions from happy to sad in different shades of green or red depending on how intense it is for you!
3. Accept your emotions.
The third step is to accept your emotions. Accepting your emotions does not mean that you agree with them and will act on them, but rather that you acknowledge their presence and are open to whatever they bring. Accepting your feelings means you are allowing yourself to feel them fully, without judgment or criticism of any kind. It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean approving of the feeling or action associated with it; in fact, acceptance often comes before approval because once we stop resisting our feelings (or others’), we can then make changes if needed.
4. Realize the impermanence of your emotions.
If you can’t find a way to deal with your emotions in the moment, try coming back to them later. Emotions are not permanent. They come and go like waves on the ocean–they rise up, crash down, then recede again. That’s why it’s so important to recognize when you’re feeling something difficult: if you don’t pay attention, those feelings might just pass by unnoticed and leave you feeling worse than before! When we become aware of our emotions (and notice that they have changed), we can choose whether or not we want to act on them in any given situation. This is especially helpful when it comes time for us as adults who have learned how mindfulness works through practice over time – because while some things may still make us sad or angry today even after practicing mindfulness daily since childhood… other things won’t matter at all tomorrow (or next week).
5. Inquire and investigate.
When you’re dealing with a difficult emotion, it can be helpful to ask yourself some questions:
- Why am I feeling this way?
- What is causing my emotion?
- What are the possible solutions to my situation?
For example, if your boss just yelled at you in front of everyone and told you that they were disappointed in your work performance because of how much time it takes for you to complete tasks (even though everyone else seems able to get their work done faster), then maybe there’s something about being yelled at by someone who has power over your career path that makes this upsetting for me–maybe because I feel like an incompetent employee or like there is something wrong with me personally. Or perhaps being criticized for taking too long on projects makes me feel like I’m failing as an adult and should be able to do things faster than other people can do them–so maybe having some accountability around this would help me feel less overwhelmed by these emotions next time one comes up!
6. Let go of the need to control your emotions.
It’s okay if you can’t control them, and it’s also okay if someone else cannot control their emotions either. The world doesn’t have to be perfect, and neither do we. Letting go of the need to control everything is a big part of mindfulness practice because it helps us accept ourselves as we are: imperfect humans living in an imperfect world with other imperfect humans around us who also want things from us but may not always want exactly what we want! This kind of acceptance is key for dealing with difficult emotions mindfully by allowing space for all kinds of feelings without attaching too much importance or meaning onto them (which will only lead back into suffering).
There are many ways to approach difficult emotions. Mindfulness is one of the most effective methods, and it can help you be more accepting of your feelings. Mindfulness is a way of being with your emotions rather than trying to change them or ignore them. This makes it easier for you to accept what’s happening inside you at any given moment so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by negative thoughts or feelings like fear, anger and sadness. Being mindful means paying attention to what’s happening in the present moment without judging yourself or others based on past experiences (which might lead us down an emotional rabbit hole). As we’ve seen, it’s possible to be more mindful of difficult emotions. When you feel anxious or angry, you can turn toward that feeling with acceptance and nonjudgmental awareness. This will help you notice the impermanence of your emotions and come back into the present moment–which means no longer being controlled by them!
