5: Feelings

Course Complete

Emotions don't just happen to you - you DO them.

Key takeaways:

In common language use, we say: "They did something, and they made me sad." Or: "They did something, and that is sad." Or: "They did something, and now I am sad." It would be more accurate (albeit unusual) to say: "They did something, and now I am doing sad about them/that.

Emotions are actions you do in your body. Feelings are what those actions taste like in your body / the name you give your experience.

Emotions are actions in your body. When you know what those actions are and you notice when you are doing them, then you can choose to do something different. Taking responsibility for your emotions is empowering.

"Negative" emotions are some combination of tensing or collapsing your posture, breathing, attention, and movement, which is not a useful basis for having a challenging conversation in a way that is calm, clear, compassionate, and confident.

Stabilizing, opening, expanding, and relaxing your body is more useful: in this state, you can think more clearly, evaluate your options, and do something that is helpful in the moment.

Practice suggestion:

Whenever you experience a contracted feeling - for example, anger:

Acknowledge: I am doing anger.

Then investigate: How am I doing anger in my body? How is my posture, breathing, awareness, and movement?

Part 1 - Managing stress and emotions