As I dive deeper into the world of mindfulness in my own life, I feel compelled to share this rich and life changing information with other seekers! Gawler and Bedson offer such rich insight into the world of emotions. "Anger, fear, sadness, joy and grief are natural emotions that we all experience at times. Some emotions are comfortable and expansive, while others are less comfortable and their effect is contractive, even painful. Being natural and normal, emotions are neither negative nor positive. Calling some emotions negative only makes us struggle with them, and resist or repress them. We will benefit greatly from accepting and normalizing all our emotions so that we can face them mindfully, take responsibility for them and express them appropriately. Otherwise we tend to deny certain emotions and indulge others. It is not the emotions themselves that are negative but the ways in which we deal with them."
Holy wow!! I could quote these beautiful researchers for the rest of my post, but what I have come to know in my own life to be true is that I am always responsible for the energy I bring with me into every space of my life. I have found that as I identify the particular emotion that I am feeling I am able to create a more healthy relationship with it instead of struggling to place it on the spectrum of being 'bad' or 'negative,' 'pleasant' or 'good.'
When I am able to embrace this moment and acknowledge my emotions within this moment, then I am able to be present to what is...I am not lost in the story of my emotion or the labeling of it, I am able to embrace it just as it is. The more in tune I am with my emotions the larger the range of expression I can experience. In your life, can you identify a 'go to emotion' that is always there for you? Perhaps out of habit you naturally shift into the gear of sadness, anger, guilt, love, etc.
We are able to truly evolve our spirits as we continually focus in on the present moment...Miriam Greenspan reminds us, "The heart heals itself when we know how to listen to it. Befriending and mindfully surrounding to our most dreaded emotions, we discover the heart's native intelligence."
May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude,
Sarah