6. Awareness of Feelings

Listen to Awareness of Feelings

• Each of us, children and adults alike, tend to respond to our feelings in a rather habitual way.
• We typically reside somewhere along the continuum of ignoring (suppressing) feelings or being controlled (overwhelmed) by them.
• Mindfulness helps give us insight into the patterns we have with reacting to our feelings. With practice, we can “have our feelings without our feeling having us;” meaning, we are aware of our feelings without them controlling our behavior.
• The way we respond to our feelings can directly impact our own suffering. Consider the equation below:

Pain x Resistance= Suffering
Unpleasantness x Wanting Things to be Different= Upset
(child friendly version)

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