Circumstances for learning this attention exercise
At the end of the workday
During a boring meeting
Reflecting on a recent emotional reaction
Getting ready for bed
Alert in the middle of the night
We use the words feelings and emotions interchangeably, but distinguishing between them opens the door to an empowering way to practice mindfulness.
Psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett distinguishes between feelings and emotions. According to her research, feelings are sensations related to the body’s best guess about what might happen next.
Emotions are predictive stories that combine feelings with details about the current situation and memories of previous experiences.
“Your brain,” she says, “is using knowledge from the past to predict your immediate future, which becomes your present.”
We can learn to notice more nuance in perceptions that convey feeling with practice. This involves noticing the differences between physical and emotional sensations.
When we get better at detecting emotional sensations, we resist them less.
When we resist them less, we reduce the frequency and intensity of escalating unpleasant feelings.
In this way, we learn to observe our feelings more like weather patterns.
Exercise
This exercise sharpens your ability to distinguish contrasting body sensations.
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