When we are in the grip of our emotions, it can sometimes feel like they have a life of their own. Emotions, if unchecked and unmanaged can wreak havoc on our mental health, our relationships and our overall wellbeing.
Perhaps you can relate, has there been a time when you experienced an event that produced a negative state within you? Did this feeling then lead to another and yet another?
Unless we have tools to transform uncomfortable emotions into something positive, they can set off a cascade of similar feelings and thoughts, and we can get stuck in a negative state of being.
One way to transform the impact of a negative experience or emotion is to consciously become aware of it in Meditation and then to let it go.
There are five easy steps you can use to work with negative emotions in Meditation. Make sure to find a comfortable chair and sit down in a relaxed position, close your eyes and then work with this simple process to transform your state.
1. Become aware of the feeling within you.
2. Become a witness and notice the emotion, don’t get involved, simply watch how it feels.
3. Consciously focus on letting that emotion go.
4. Evoke the opposite positive feeling within your being, feel it, live it.
5. Open your eyes hold on to that positive emotion.
The most important part of this process is two-fold. As you witness the emotion, take care not to get caught up in how it feels, the main thing is to become aware of it. Watch how this emotion sits in your body. Notice where you are feeling it. Notice its pulsation and resonance in your body. You can view this emotion as energy. Become a witness to it.
The second part is to transform the feeling. When you have consciously let go of the emotion, you focus on how it would feel to experience the opposite sentiment. How do you want to feel? It is fear you would focus on love, if you are angry focus on forgiveness, if you are jealous, focus on having all of your needs met.
When you focus on this positive emotion in Meditation, make sure you live it. Keep putting your energy and attention into feeling that positive healing, rejuvenating emotion. Notice the change in your state. Let that feeling fill your entire being.
This simple practice is potent. In the beginning, it may take some effort to let go of the uncomfortable emotion, and it may also take time to be able to feel the new positive one. But stick at it, because as you can transform your state, you will find resilience in your daily life. It will help you to take charge of your wellbeing at any moment in the day.
Over time, you won’t even need to close your eyes; you will be able to do it on a moment to moment basis. You will be able to shift your state of being with a simple thought and corresponding positive emotion.
