Not Identifying with Emotions?

The other day, while sitting with a new student, I was struck by how she identified with her emotional state—because we all do this.

We speak as if we are our emotions!

She told me, "I am an anxious person".

When we identify with our emotions, how we speak about ourselves limits us. In English, we use the "I am" in front of the emotion.

We believe that's who we are and peg ourselves into a corner as 'this is who I am' instead of framing it as experiencing an emotion.

Language matters. The Spanish language refers to having an emotion rather than being it. Eastern languages, such as Tibetan, speak about a specific emotion residing within, giving us even more space to observe and not become it.

When we describe ourselves as an emotion, we believe that's who we are and become it.

Re-framing how we describe ourselves to be peaceful people who experience anxiety but also (often after a yoga class) feel peace - will shift us from the limited mindset that identifies with negative emotions.

Thoughts that we repeatedly think of become our beliefs, whether they're true or not.

We can practice catching ourselves when we say, "I am anxious," and shift it to, "Anxiety is running through me," so we can take space from it and not identify as it.

Working with how we relate to our emotions and shifting our old, outdated thought processes around them takes time and practice. We will work on this in the upcoming Emotional Endurance program (see below).

Meditations that observe the current mindset, breathwork that shifts and clears negative emotions, and movement through yoga and qigong that releases stored issues in our tissues will provide a new, fresh way to identify as a fundamentally peaceful person experiencing different emotions.

Imagine describing yourself as a peaceful person!

You'll slowly start believing it and become more PEACE and less stressed and anxious.

What we practice gets stronger; I look forward to refreshing your mindset to peace.

Namaste,

Maggie