Week 5 - Emotions Informal Practices

Inventorying Emotions as They Happen: as you go through your day, practice noting and labeling emotions as they appear while you go about your life. First recognize it, name it (“anger”), pause and close your eyes (if possible), and notice how how it feels in the body and mind without pushing it away. Try to be aware of the emotion without getting lost in it; notice if it comes with other emotions, and/or specific sensations. If the emotion doesn’t feel particularly productive in context, cultivate the habit of returning your attention to the situation you are in, such as sitting in a classroom, listening to someone, cleaning your room, brushing your teeth, and so on. If appropriate, consider why an emotion arose in a particular context and reflect on how it feels in the body. How are

Emotions Audit at the End of the Day: At the end of the day, reflect on and journal daily what emotions you may have had and when/how it felt. Key questions to explore include: What did I feel? When?  How intense where those feelings?  How long did they last? Was I aware of them in the moment?  How did they drive my action? What might I have done differently if I was aware in that moment? Why did I feel that way – what was at the root of that emotional state (a fear, a past experience, a sense of vulnerability, a desire, a belief system)?

If an overarching emotions audit feels too broad, then choose one specific emotion family to focus greater awareness on, such as fear, anger or joy.  Use the emotions audit to log when or how often that emotion was felt.  This could be done at the end of the day or throughout the day keeping track of when one is feeling joy. This might necessitate certain times of day for prompts (alarm clock, meals, starting or ending a class, a prompt from the app) to tune into and record what is felt at that time each day.

You can also seek insight on these emotions in reflection, asking questions of self such as: Why am I feeling this? What do I need? What is a place of vulnerability in me? What do I need to learn?)