Strong, uncomfortable feelings like anxiety, stress, and anger can be overwhelming. But you can find your way to a calmer place when those feelings arise.
Developing the capacity to be with any thought, emotion, or sensation in your awareness is the path to living a calmer life. When you bring curiosity and empathy to every aspect of yourself, you’re naturally less ruffled. Life’s ups and downs don’t throw you for a loop (at least not as much as they used to). This kind of healing is not a quick fix. It’s a life-long journey of self-awareness. But the benefits of doing the work are astonishing.
4 Steps to Help You Be With What You Feel So You Feel Calmer Inside
- Pause. Start by getting grounded. Be aware of your feet…your seat on the chair…your breathing. Say the words, “I am here.”
- Notice. Connect with your body by sensing your throat, chest, stomach. Notice where in there you are feeling something uncomfortable.
- Say Hello. Say to the feeling in your body, “Hello, I know you are there.” This is the powerful step of turning toward how you are feeling.
- Verbalize. Now say, “I am sensing something in me feels this way.” Or fill in the feeling word: “I am sensing something in me feels….” Notice how that changes your relationship to what you feel.
When YOU are able to turn toward what you’re feeling, even if it feels strong or uncomfortable, you’re making huge strides toward developing more Calm Presence in your life. And that helps you experience more joy, feel less stress, and live a fuller life!
Remember: Pause. Notice. Say Hello. Verbalize.
“Presence is the ability to simply be with anything that is in your awareness.”
– Ann Weiser Cornell, The Radical Acceptance of Everything
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