Every day, we’re faced with challenging situations. Sometimes, the challenges of daily life can bring uncomfortable, difficult emotions to the surface. Unfortunately, many of us find ourselves in circumstances that make it challenging to acknowledge and accept these emotions for what they are. We tend to downplay them, have trouble accounting for them, and far too often end up attempting to suppress them.
This approach to handling our emotions and emotional validation can make things harder over time. Rather than suppressing and ignoring the way that we feel, it’s important to acknowledge our emotions for what they are. This allows us to process them, at which point we can move on from a situation rather than feeling trapped by it.
In this mindfulness exercise, you’ll be guided through emotional validation. This technique can help us cope with both our own emotions and the emotions of others in our relationships.
The technique itself is fairly simple. To start with, you’ll be asked to identify whatever emotion it is that you’re feeling. You can use other mindfulness techniques to help you accomplish this, including the Emotional Awareness Meditation (as outlined in another mindfulness exercise). If you can’t come up with a name for the emotion, don’t worry. Next, you’ll work to acknowledge and accept the emotion for what it is. This involves accepting the feeling itself, rather than struggling to deny the reality of your current situation. Finally, you’ll work to identify reasons for why you’re feeling a certain way, which will help you to better understand where the feeling comes from.
With practice, you may find it easier to cope with how you’re feeling. Because you’re not attempting to suppress a particular emotion, you may find that you can move past it more readily.
