The next time an uncomfortable emotion arises, try this simple exercise. First, recognize and accept the feeling. Tell yourself: “I’m feeling frustrated and impatient right now.”
Then focus on where in your body you feel the emotion. Is it in your chest? Your belly? The front of your forehead? Your hands? Sometimes, if you just breathe into that place for a minute, the feeling will calm down.
I’ve found that practicing this regularly helps keep me tuned in to how my body is feeling—before those feelings turn into big emotions.
Try to override less often.
We all have to do this sometimes.
We go to the office on less sleep than we should, drink coffee to get through a bleary morning, take cold medicine to keep going when we’re sick and on a deadline, pop some Advil when our neck hurts.
I like to call these “overrides” and they are viewed as completely normal in our production-oriented society. There’s an over-the-counter pill or a caffeinated beverage to help you get through almost anything.
But I’ve found that using overrides can make me less connected to how my body actually feels. And when I lose that connection, it gets harder to make sure I’m cultivating pleasure and supporting my own well-being.