Mindful Wellbeing Week 4: Expanding Our Emotional Vocabulary

This practice helps you to explore what is beyond basic feelings. It allows you to cultivate a greater sensitivity to more specific emotions at the moment. Answering, "How are you feeling right now?" is investigated with curiosity, non-judgment, and respect for all emotional experiences.

Transcript

To begin this practice, Let's just take a couple of nourishing breaths. Settling into our bodies as they are right now. Nothing to change. Maybe starting with a tiny bit of appreciation for showing up right here right now. So today we're going to explore our emotional vocabulary and expand it. Think about how often we are asked and we ask of others, How are you? And the response might often be, I'm okay. Anything outside of that feels maybe a little bit like we shouldn't go into really what's happening in the inner world. I tend to think the question, How are you? Is actually a loaded one. I'm going to ask you that right now. I'm going to say it like this. How do you feel? How do you feel? Notice your response. Is it a feeling that you're using to describe how you've been all day? Is it a basic word like good or bad or tired? Low energy. Is it a feeling that is just for this particular moment? So I'm going to ask you again. This time I'm going to say, Right now, How do you feel? There may be the same answer. Let's explore this evaluation that we put on ourselves and we put on our momentary feelings. Moving beyond the range of happy and sad. Energized and fatigue. Let's bring a little curiosity to these feelings and explore with greater sensitivity what might be there. For instance, If you say right now, I feel a little down. Can you get a little more specific? Is that loneliness or boredom? Or sleepiness? Or some feeling of inadequacy? If your response to right now, I feel with something around being peaceful or calm or relaxed. What is below that? Is it that you might feel grateful or respected or trusted? So just bring that kind curiosity to this emotional experience that you're noticing. And see if you can move beyond the basic. Basic label you've put on it and drop a little deeper, A little more accurately into what's really there. We do all of this. Without judgment for any feeling. We're observing. So whether this is a moment of anger, Fear or joy. All are met with. Acceptance. They're allowed to take up a little bit of space. We can expand our emotional vocabulary and really hone in on close to what we're feeling. We can better learn to tap into the wisdom of that emotion.