Feeling

I don't know why, but I'm pissed.
Homunculus-owners: welcome to the Week of Calm.  This week, it's all about emotion regulation.  Or, putting the kabosh on emotional outbursts that mess up stuff for us.  Basically, we're going to avoid having adult temper-tantrums this week.  Don't be a baby.

In many ways, actually controlling emotions is hard.  They bubble up almost automatically.  Often, they occur without us even knowing it!  I don't think I'm alone when I say that sometimes I don't even know why I feel a certain way.  Ewww.

So, feeling emotions at any given time may or may not be totally in our control.  Emotions are a summation of a lifetime of dealing with stuff in certain ways, our explanatory style, etc.  It is difficult, if not impossible to control emotions in the heat of the moment.  However, we can more easily control how we behave when we experience an emotion.  In other words, we don't have to let the whole world know when we're pissed off.

But first, we have to be aware of emotions.  In that spirit, today we are going to practice some self-awareness of our own emotions.  The DMG "Feeling" has come up before in the Week of Self-Awareness, and we should revisit it again now.

Feeling

Task: Be mindful of physical sensations that accompany emotions.

Info: As before, I am defining "feeling" for this challenge as any physical sensation that accompanies an emotion.  This can include things like anger, anxiety, pumped-uppedness, sadness, happiness, boredom, etc.  How do these mental states feel?  Don't describe them to yourself in words, fully experience the physical sensations that define the feelings.  For difficult feelings, remember that it's "just" a feeling.  Your life isn't really any different because you are experiencing that sensation.  So, get curious about the feeling and try to enjoy each and every sensation (even tough ones).  Finally, no need to obsess over this, just go about your day and take note of new sensations as they grab your attention.

Goal: Enjoy observing your feelings, including difficult sensations.


This is the second time "Feeling" has come up on The Happy Homunculus.  How did it go this time?  Do you feel more calm now when you observe difficult emotions?  Post your thoughts in the comments!

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