Building Emotional Awareness - Positive Psychology

Building Emotional Awareness

A way to explore, know and become familiar with your emotions

By Seph Fontane Pennock και του Hugo Alberts / Positive Psychology Toolkit.

This exercise invites you to become aware of your emotions. It’s your chance to really get to know your emotions. By practicing emotional awareness in this way, you can build your emotional intelligence.

Step 1: Emotional awareness meditation script

1. Find a comfortable seated position. Either sitting on a cushion on the floor, or in a chair. Allow your spine to be straight and long, and let your shoulders drop. Gently close your eyes, or, if you’d prefer, simply gaze down in front of you with a soft focus.

2. As you sit here, notice where your body is making contact: your feet touching the floor, perhaps your back on the ground, your sit bones on a chair...

3. Notice your breath. For the next five or so breaths, follow each inhale and exhale, feeling or imagining the breath flowing into and out of the body.

4. Now, shift your awareness from your breath to your body, and begin to scan through the body slowly from

head to toe, observing any feelings or emotions that are present.

5. You might detect numerous feelings or emotions throughout the body. For the purpose of this exercise, choose

one feeling or emotion to focus on for now.

6. Notice where in your body this emotion located... so what part of the body is holding this feeling?

7. How big or small is the feeling?

8. Where are its edges? Are these edges sharp or soft?

9. Does the feeling have a color? And if so, is the color changing or remaining the same?

10. Is the feeling heavy, or light?

11. Is the feeling moving, or still?

12. Is the feeling hard or soft? Is it rough or smooth? If I could touch this feeling with my hand, what would its texture be like?

13. Now, if you were to give a name to this feeling or emotion, what would it be? Can you identify it? Can you give it a label?

14. If a name for this feeling doesn’t come to mind, that’s OK. Be kind to yourself, and continue to observe the feeling in the body with curiosity and without judgment, until the nature of this emotion becomes clearer to you.

15. Continue to get to know this emotion for another five or so minutes. When you feel that you have reached a level of comfort with and understanding of this feeling, gently open your eyes and bring your attention back to the room you are in.

Step 2: Reflection

In the space below, write about your experience in Step 1 in as much detail as possible. Writing about your experience of this emotion will enhance your understanding and familiarity with it.

Ομ! True Discrimination ~ St Peter of Damaskos

True Discrimination 

By St Peter of Damaskos - Philokalia Book1

A Treasury of Divine Knowledge

True Discrimination characterized by an unerring recognition of what is good and what is not, and the knowledge of the will of God in all that one does. Spiritual insight is characterized, first, by awareness of one’s own failings before they issue in outward actions, as well as of the stealthy tricks of the demons; and, second, by the knowledge of the mysteries hidden in the divine Scriptures and in sensible creation.

As has been already explained, humility, the mother of discrimination and spiritual insight, likewise has its own characteristic by which it is known. The humble person; must possess every virtue and yet truly think himself the greatest of debtors and inferior to everything else in creation. If, however, a person does not think in this way, then he can be assured that he is mi fact inferior to everything else in creation, even though he seems to lead a life like that of the angels. For even a true angel possessing so many virtues and so much wisdom cannot conform to the Creator’s will unless he also possesses humility. What, then, can a person who thinks that he is an angel say for himself if he lacks humility, source of all present and future blessings, begetter of that discrimination which illumines the ends of the earth and without which all things are obscure?

Discrimination is not only called light; it truly is light. We need this light before we say or do anything. When it is present we are able to view everything else with wonder. We can marvel at how God, on the first and greatest of days, began by creating light, so that what was subsequently created might not he invisible and as if it did not exist, as St John of Damaskos says.’ Let it be said again: discrimination is light; and the spiritual insight it generates is more necessary than all other gifts. For what is more necessary than to perceive the wiles of the demons and with the help of God’s grace to protect one’s soul? Other things most necessary to; us include, according to St Isaac, purity of conscience; and, according to the apostle, the sanctification of the body (cf. Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 6:19-20) without which ‘no one will see the Lord’ (Heb. 12:14).

The foundation of our suffering - Atman NItyananda

The foundation of our suffering

In short, our misery and suffering are due to the following factors.

1. Identification and attachment to the body, mind and sense objects.
2. Desire and attachment to pleasures, money, power, fame, name, recognition, etc.
3. Low self-esteem, feeling not enough, not worthy, not valuable and associating our value and worthiness with things other than our Soul. That is, we depend our value on characteristics of body, mind and personality, money, status, work, success, family reputation, nationality, religion, parental status, etc.

These factors are correlated and interdependent and all have as their basis and cause the ego and the rajas and tamas Gunas and the ignorance of our true Self.

Due to these factors, we suffer from fear (in all its varieties, insecurity, anxiety, worries, agony, phobias, etc.), anger (in all its varieties, annoyance, dysthymia, frustration irritability, rage, hostility, wrath), depression, grief, feeling threatened, offended, hurt, separation, isolation, loneliness, boredom, discontentment, uneasiness, restlessness, hopelessness, hatred, jealousy, envy, shame, guilt, etc.

Our ego needs and wants (desires) from others pleasures, security, attention, acceptance, recognition, approval, affirmation and generally wants others to have a good image and opinion of us. 

Because of it, we see others as a threat to our self-esteem, value, reputation, security, pleasures, comfort, etc., or as contributors to them. We like or dislike, love or hate others depending on whether they threaten (or we imagine it) our needs or help us to meet them.

We create relationships based on needs and desires and not on love. However, relationships are a great opportunity, a challenge and a university to know and work with ourselves and to free ourselves from limitations, programming and selfishness and develop our consciousness and unconditioned love.

YAMA NIYAMA - SWAMI SIVANANDA

YAMA NIYAMA SWAMI SIVANANDA

Eight Accessories of Yoga

Restraint, religious observances, posture, control of breath, abstraction of Indriyas, concentration, meditation, superconscious state or trance, are the eight accessories of Yoga.

Benefits of the Accessories

On the destruction of the impurities through the practice of the (eight) accessories of Yoga, arises the light of wisdom, leading to the discriminative knowledge.

Yama is the practice of Ahimsa, Satyam, Asteya, Brahmacharya and Aparigraha. Niyama is the observance of the five canons, viz., Saucha, Santosha, Tapas, Svadhyaya and Ishvarapranidhana. By practising Yama and Niyama, the Yogic student purifies his mind. By practising Asana, he gets steadiness and firmness of body. By practising Pranayama, he removes the tossing of mind and destroys Rajas and Tamas. By practising Pratyahara, he gets mental strength, peace of mind and inner life. By the practice of Dharana, he gets Ekagrata (one-pointed) state of mind. By practising Dhyana, he fills the mind with divine thoughts. By practising Samadhi, he destroys the seeds of births and deaths, and gets immortality and Kaivalya, the final beatitude, the highest end of human life.

By the practice of the eight Angas of Yoga, dirt of the mind - Explained in the chapter on 'MIND', (five Klesas) is removed and discrimination of Prakriti-Purusha comes by itself. Then the Yogi attains Kaivalya.

What Is Yama

(Among these accessories) abstinence from injury and killing, truthfulness, abstinence from theft or falsehood, continence, abstinence from avariciousness or greed, are the restraints.

NOTES

Yama is the very foundation of Yoga, without which the superstructure of Yoga cannot be built. Practice of Yama is really the practice of Sadachara (right conduct). The noble eightfold path of

Patanjali Maharshi mentions the above five chief items for practice in Yama. According to Sandilya Rishi, the practice of Saucha, Daya, Arjava, Dhriti and Mitahara is included in Yama. Saucha is external and internal purity. Washing the hands, taking baths, etc., are for external purity. Filling the mind with pure divine thoughts is internal purity. Daya is mercy or compassion, in all places, for all creatures. Arjava is the keeping up of balance of mind while doing actions. Dhriti is fortitude or mental power of endurance. Mitahara is moderation in eating.

 Universal Vows

The restraints are Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya and Aparigraha.

1. Ahimsa

Abstinence from injuring and killing, being established, all hostilities are given up in the presence of the practitioner.

2. Satya

Speaking truth, when established, leads (the Yogi) to the bestowal of fruits for actions.

NOTES

Speaking truth is the most important qualification of a Yogi.

God is truth. He can be realised by speaking truth and observing truth in thought, word and deed.

3. Asteya

Non-stealing or abstinence from theft, when established, all kinds of wealth approach (the Yogi).

4. Brahmacharya

By the establishment of celibacy, vigour is gained.

5. Aparigraha

Aparigraha is freedom from greed or covetousness. One should not try to keep or try to get in possession anything beyond the very necessaries of life When abstinence from greed is established, the knowledge of the how of existence or births comes.

1. What is Niyama

The observances are (the practice of) internal and external purity, contentment, mortification, study of scriptures and worship of God or self-surrender

NOTES

Niyama is the second accessory of Yoga. It is the practice of purity, contentment, mortification, study and worship.

Mortification, study of scriptures, self-surrender are the Yoga of purificatory action.

Benefits of Purification

(Kriya Yoga is practised) for acquiring Samadhi and for attenuating the afflictions.

1. Benefits of External Purification

By the purification, comes disgust for one's own body and cessation of contact with others.

. Benefits of Internal Purification

On the purity of Sattva, arise cheerfulness of mind, conquest of the senses or organs, and fitness for the realisation of the Atman.

2. Santosha

Supreme happiness is obtained through contentment.

3. Tapas

Through Tapas, mortification, due to the destruction of impurities, arise psychic powers in the body and senses.

4. Svadhyaya

By study of scriptures comes the communion with the tutelary deity. Svadhyaya includes also Japa, the repetition of Mantras. By constant study and its practice in daily life will lead one to have communion with God.

5. Ishvarapranidhana

By self-surrender comes attainment of Samadhi, superconscious state.