Tara: The mindful awareness we've been practicing with so far has brought us into closer touch with our breath and body. Now, we'll extend the power of mindfulness to the whole river of human emotions and feelings that are constantly flowing through our lives. Mindfulness of feeling directs us to notice the qualities of pleasantness or unpleasantness in the body. Along with these bodily feelings, we can also notice the full range of emotions, sorrow, anger, love, fear, all experienced in the body, heart, and mind. 

So, as we continue in this program, we'll refer to feelings and emotions together because mindfulness of both dimensions is necessary if we’re to have clarity and wisdom as we navigate. To be clear, the emotions we regularly experience, whether it’s depression or confidence, anxiety or trust, directly determine how we respond to our life.

If our boss or teacher makes an unskillful critical comment, if we happen to be happy or in love, it might simply roll-off, but if we're insecure or discouraged, we might become angry or upset. If we begin dating someone, and we're optimistic and confident, the relationship will take one direction, and if we're filled with self-doubt, another. Our strongest and most habitual emotions are sometimes completely unconscious. 

Without mindfulness, these feeling states can overpower our faculties and really run our lives. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas admits that, “At the Supreme Court level where I work, 90% of the decisions are made on feelings. 10% is the reasoning used to justify our feelings.’' This is the way we humans are wired. Emotions affect the approach to decision making and management at work, how well a patient heals, and a student’s ability to learn.

Mindfulness radically shifts and clarifies our relationship with our emotions. Research has demonstrated that mindfulness training increases our access to balance, resilience, and accurate perception, even in the midst of strong emotions like fear and shame. Neuropsychology calls this expanding our window of tolerance.

We have an increased capacity to tolerate stress, to acknowledge what’s going on inside us, and then choose a wise response. In a most profound way, this deepens your self-confidence because you know that you can handle what’s around the corner. So, whether you’re a parent triggered by the tantrum of your toddler, or a manager dealing with the anxiety from a department downsizing, mindfulness of emotions can help you bring a more balanced and compassionate presence to the situation, making it all the more workable.

So, let’s practice together with mindfulness of emotions. Come into a sitting posture that allows you to be relaxed and alert, establishing a simple sense of presence by noticing the state of your body and mind. You might sense the half-smile of kindness at your mouth and let that felt sense of the half-smile fill your body, deepening the sense of receptivity of a kind presence. Now, bring a relaxed and focused attention to your primary anchor, body, or the natural rhythm of the breath. And as you feel each breath, let the mind calm and the body relax. If it’s been helpful, you might use the soft words, calm with the in-breath and steady with the out-breath. Now that you’ve settled a bit with your primary anchor, turn the same quality of careful attention to notice whatever feelings are present right now.
And as you do this, let your mindfulness have an attitude of gentleness, of care, and of interest. You’re exploring the amazing river of human feeling as a mindful witness simply acknowledging what’s here. Sometimes, several feelings can be present at once such as quiet, contentment, and happiness, or sadness, frustration, and hurt. Sometimes, there may seem to be very few feelings. 

No matter. These may be simply quiet or unexciting feelings like stillness, or boredom, numbness, blankness, nothingness. These are also feelings. With mindfulness, you’re asked to simply acknowledge each feeling that arises as if with a bow to them. No need to judge them or change them, let them be. They’re the human river of feelings. As the poet Rumi instructs, “Treat each guest honorably.”

Noticing whatever feelings are present right in this moment, also notice how the feelings are experienced as body sensations, whether it's anxiety or joy, resentment or friendliness. Each can be felt as patterns of energy and sensations in different parts of the body. See if you can sense where feelings live in your body and how the sensations feel, opening to whatever you're aware of with a kind, receptive attention, moment to moment, noticing the feelings that live through you. You might ask, what is happening inside me right now, and can I be with this? Feelings move and change slowly. Simply notice them and let them be. The point is not to stop the river of feelings but to know them with awareness.

Now, again, return to feel the breath or your body anchor, calming and steadying your attention. As you arrive at your home base, continue feeling it in the foreground, the breath or body anchor. And as you do, you can sense in the background, whatever feeling states are here. And if a strong feeling arises, then let the breath recede, and again, acknowledging, bowing to whatever feeling is predominant. And then, when it no longer calls your attention, arrive again in your home base. In this way, you're learning to be centered, balanced, and present for the breath, body, and emotions, responding as needed, wisely aware of them all.
© Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield
Reprinted by permission.