Page 29 - Mindfulness Meets Emotional Awareness Sample Book
P. 29
Developing meaning in life is not just a mental process, it is
not simply a question of thought. Our value systems and the
things that matter to us are a direct result of the way that we
feel about things. Our emotions let us know what matters to
us.
When we talk about ‘quality of life’, what we are really
talking about is the way that we feel.
When we talk about ‘quality time’, whether it is quality ‘me
time’ or ‘quality time’ spent with someone else — whether we
are in a fabulous restaurant, cuddled up on the sofa watching
TV or sitting on top of a mountain watching the sunset — we
are talking about the quality of the time that we are
experiencing, the way that we feel and the meaning that these
experiences bring to our lives.
Our capacity to develop meaning from an experience is a
direct result of a connection and a relatedness between the
awareness of our mind and our emotional state of being.
Sometimes this connection and relatedness is missing.
Our emotions are cut off, or experienced as separate and so
are then disconnected from any form of mindfulness or
considered thought.
When this happens, people can get into very deep water
because they find themselves being very emotionally reactive.
Unable to ‘pause for thought’, they react in the immediacy of
the moment. In this instance, they are being driven entirely by
their emotions. Reflective considered thought is absent.
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Mindfulness Meets Emotional Awareness
©Jenny Florence/Burgess A-Z of Emotional Health Ltd 2016 All rights reserved.
