Emotions Are My Friends — A Curiosity Micro-Practice

We often resist difficult emotions — pushing them away or judging ourselves for feeling them. This guided practice invites you to turn toward your emotions with mindful curiosity instead, discovering the unmet needs they're pointing to. Anger may be protecting a boundary, grief may be revealing what matters most, loneliness may be calling you toward connection. When we welcome our emotions as messengers rather than enemies, they become a source of unexpected wisdom and clarity.
Part of Daily Sama — one mindfulness skill, one default pattern disrupted, one shift in your day. A guided micro-practice series for real-world mindfulness by Dr. Shalini Bahl, author of Return to Mindfulness."

Transcript

Welcome to Daily Sama. This is Dr. Shalini Pahel and every day we are meeting to practice with one mindfulness skill to disrupt one default habit. And make one small shift in a day to show up more skillfully in our lives. Today's mindfulness skill is. . . Emotions are my friends so this is a curiosity reminder micro practice. And curiosity the skill of curiosity disrupts our default habit of seeing and noticing information that confirms what we believe. It's also known as the confirmation bias. With respect to emotions, When we direct curiosity towards emotions, We're able to recognize where we are stuck emotionally or where we may not be paying attention. To the information that our emotions are providing to us. So emotions are basically a way for us to receive information that the cognitive or the conscious mind is not recognizing. And so in today's practice, We are going to learn. To Befriend our emotions. So the card reads, I'll briefly read the card and then we'll do the micro practice together. Our emotions are there for a reason to help us safely navigate changes in our inner and outer environments. So the practice we'll do is to return to the body and breathe fully. To make space for whatever we're feeling, Treat the emotions like guests, Welcome them all. And then see what thoughts and needs are underlying our emotions so that we can take an action to attend to those needs. So if you are ready, Wherever you are, Let's take a deep breath together. And if you like lowering or closing your eyes, You can turn your attention inward. To the breath moving in and out of the body. Our first step is always to return to the present moment experience. Just the way it is without changing, Without rushing or judging. So this is your moment to return to your body, To your breath. Take that pause, Slow down if you need. And with each inhale starting to create a little more space in the body. In your mind And with this. . . Spaciousness in the mind and body, Just checking in with what emotions are present. So it's like we're opening the door to receive whatever emotion is there, Whether it's pleasant, Unpleasant, Or neutral. Just making room because this emotion is here. To tell us something about our current moment situation or how we're feeling. So just labeling the emotions that are present for you. It could be just. . . Peace and calm and acknowledging that if that's what's happening for you, Making room for that. Peaceful experience. Hand if there is anxiety or excitement, Just acknowledging that, Befriending your anxiety, Your excitement. Just seeing what shifts when we stop resisting our emotions and instead turn towards them making room. To recognize what is here What is my emotion, My friend telling me about my experience? So just asking your emotion that's there, Whether it's anxiety, Excitement, Grief. My friend, What do you want to tell me? And listening within. So taking these few moments to listen within. To the emotions that are present for you whether they're pleasant acknowledging that whether they are unpleasant like anxiety or fear or grief, Even that using your breath to create space. In your chest. In your body. And listening to the thoughts underlying your emotions. What is your inner dialogue? What is your grief or your fear or your anxiety telling you about what you need? What are your unmet needs in this situation? And from this place of connection with your emotions, What is one step you can take? To listen more deeply to your emotions. To understand your needs that these emotions are conveying to you. And what step you can take. To honor those needs, To honor your emotions. So if you have any questions or comments about this micro practice we did today, Emotions are my friends. Is the practice we did emotions are my friends this is a curiosity practice And it. Disrupts our habit of automatically shutting down towards emotions that feel hard or difficult. And instead, We're learning to really make room. To invite our emotions and really learn to have that awareness. And listen to what the emotions are telling us. So for example, If you experience grief. You could look what is underlying that grief might be love for someone that is far away or. . . Is going through difficult times. So just looking at whatever the emotion is, There's always some kind of unmet need that it's trying to protect. And once you can see what is the underlying need, You can take the steps to honor that. So for me, For example, I've been feeling a little heavy recently. I just left. My elderly parents in India, I'm back in the States now. And it was difficult leaving them. Every time I leave them, It is a little hard and I was feeling a little heavy. And the automatic reaction is to not want to feel that heaviness. So there's a resistance to it or there's a judgment. I shouldn't feel that way. But when we learn with this, This is what the practice is teaching us to turn towards the emotions. I can see underlying the grief is this immense love that I have and gratitude for. My parents who've been there for me all my life. That actually transforms that grief into love. And then I can act on that by making sure that I'm staying connected with them. Even though I'm far, I make time to call them every day. So similarly, I'd love to hear from you. What did this micro practice bring up for you? In terms of your needs. What are your emotions telling you about your needs? And. How were you able to transform them into something skillful, Some action that you can then take. To honor your needs. If you have any questions, Comments, Insights feel free to share them in the comments right now. Or if you're watching the recording this will be shared on sama live in substack and You can always watch the recording, Do this practice again, Or you can do the practice on your own. Emotions are my friends. That's the reminder for today. Thank you for doing this practice with me. We all need to return to mindfulness in our day several times a day so that we can then strengthen this habit of showing up skillfully, Showing up mindfully. That's all for me from today. Thank you for your practice. Until tomorrow, Stay sama.