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    Becoming Comfortable With Emotions

    NL
    Nicole LannertonePublished January 10, 2015 · Updated October 22, 2026 · 1 min read

    Printable Worksheet

    Becoming Comfortable With Emotions

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    A mindful companion to this worksheet

    Meeting feelings with mindful attention

    Emotions are information, not problems to solve. “Becoming Comfortable With Emotions” is a chance to build a kinder relationship with the whole range of your inner life, the easy feelings and the hard ones.

    How mindfulness can help

    Mindfulness helps us stay close to a feeling without being swept away by it. Turning toward what we feel, naming it, finding it in the body, and breathing alongside it, often makes the emotion easier to hold. Over time we learn to have our experience rather than be run by it.

    Gentle steps to try

    1. Name what is here. Quietly say to yourself, “This is sadness,” or “This is anger.” Many people find that naming a feeling takes a little of the charge out of it.
    2. Find it in the body. Where do you feel this emotion most clearly? The throat, the chest, the belly? Let your attention rest there with kindness.
    3. Breathe alongside it. Imagine the breath moving into and around the sensation, neither pushing it away nor pulling it closer.
    4. Ask what it needs. Many feelings simply want to be noticed. Some carry a request, for rest, a boundary, or a repair. Listen for it.

    Feelings are not flaws. They are weather moving through, and no emotion, however strong, is the whole of who you are.

    A note from Sean

    When we work with emotions, I like the image of a love tackle, or a hug tackle. We don’t attack an emotion. We hold it very lightly and witness it with kindness. Emotions are not wrong or bad. They are part of our experience.

    Try this today. At the end of today, ask: which emotion was strongest, and how could I tell? Which one was I most comfortable with? Which one did I move away from? Write a line for each, and note where you felt it in your body.

    Keep going: How to Be Mindful of Your Emotions and A Mindfulness of Emotions Script for Naming Feelings.

    This suits anyone who wants to know their feelings better. Start with the milder ones. If an emotion feels too big, or you are in grief or trauma, look around the room, feel your feet, and go gently. This complements a therapist or counselor and does not replace one. Stop when you need to.

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