28-Day Practice
Finding Harmony with our Daily Lives
Day 20: Observe Your Emotions
Practice
​Observe your emotions. Plain, simple, and yet not something we initially do. The best way to practice this is when we experience an intense emotion, such as frustration, sadness, anger, confusion, or joy. You can do it with various emotions you experience today or with one. The amount of emotion isn't as relevant as how deeply you observe it.
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How to: Let's say you get a phone call or an email that isn't what you expected, and an emotion is being released.
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Notice where in my body I feel it (e.g., chest, belly, throat, etc.)
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What thoughts are related to this feeling (e.g., disappointment, repeated experience)
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Take a deep breath in to where you notice the emotion in your body
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Exhale fully to release the emotion
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How intense (between 1-10) is the emotion now?
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One fascinating insight into chemical reactions is that it takes about 90 seconds for an emotion to arise and release, if we don't give it time to process other emotions and thoughts. Can you give yourself 90 seconds for one emotion?​
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Here's the link to today's call, where we practice together. See you there, or if you're unable to attend, feel free to find the link here later.
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Resources
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