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It’s day 22 of the 31 Days of Mindfulness Challenge and today’s task is to bring awareness to your feelings and emotions.
Day 22: Feel the Feelings
“Mindfulness is developing an awareness of the thoughts and feelings that we move through without getting drawn into the meanings or taking action or getting sucked into the story. Like house guests, eventually they all leave. We become more attuned to being a container for those things and less identified with them”
— Barnet Bain
Back on day 18, we talked about being mindful of your body throughout the day.
Today, we’re doing the same thing but with your mind, your feelings.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever started doing something else to prevent yourself from feeling an uncomfortable emotion. My go-to? I either start cleaning or swing in the total opposite direction and sit my butt on the couch with a pint of ice cream.
Besides the fact this isn’t a healthy approach overall, let’s look at it from a mindfulness perspective. When we push down the feelings or find something else to occupy our mind, we’re removing ourselves from the present moment. We’re taking away any awareness we have of the situation and replacing it with completely mindless activities. Which, I understand is probably the point, whether we realize it or not. Our brains are wired to protect us and getting uncomfortable isn’t one of those things we’re all-too-eager to experience.
The more research I do on mindful living, the more I realize that it isn’t always supposed to be ‘easy.’ When we live mindfully, we’re living in the present moment and as much as we all wish, not all moments in life are full of rainbows and butterflies.
So, today is to feel those feelings and remember that it’s okay to get uncomfortable. If you’re looking for an outlet, try writing the uncomfortablness down in a journal. Or call a trusted family member or friend. The point is, you’re not pretending those feelings aren’t there; stay aware and curious.
If you’re joining in, let us know how today’s challenge went in the comments!
All our best,
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