A rule of thumb for those who are mediating: respect all your feelings.

When you experience moment-to-moment awareness, you face anger, happiness, sadness, shame, jealousy. Those are precious moments when you see your reactions to those feelings, your strong and weak points. Step by step you investigate your inner self, increase emotional stability by experiencing a full set of emotions, realize the richness of your nature. And congratulations: you are on your way to be less reactive to the external irritants and more successful in your life.

Your emotional reactions are caused by something or someone, and your body informs you about that. Try to observe yourself by asking yourself the following questions:

• What is that feeling about? Is it anger or I am highly upset? Am I happy or am I embarrassed?
• What happened before I had this feeling? Discover triggers that lead to this feeling.
• How do I feel now? What is happening in my body and mind, how do I behave, what sensations do I experience?
• What did I do? Notice your actions, and you’ll be able to see the pattern how you normally react to certain emotions.

Don’t run away from your feelings; they are a great source of information to make your life better. When you catch yourself on any feeling, try to stop and let yourself be in it, even if it seems unbearable. Don’t waste your time with pleasant but deceptive actions, like imagining the bright unrealistic future, and you’ll see dealing with your real emotions is manageable. In turn, you’ll be rewarded with an improved version of yourself living a great life to the fullest.