Category: Working with Emotions
The Alchemy of Mindfulness
Tara Bennett-Goleman describes how the transforming power of mindfulness can be applied to our painful emotional patterns.
The Heart Breaks
The Buddha saw an old man, ill man, dead man, and wise man. As her father’s health declined, Minal Hajratwala saw these same sights.
Meditation Malice: on working with distractions and resentment
Josh Korda on what his irritating meditation partner taught him about being with aversion and overcoming anger.
Try a Little Tenderness
It’s not a luxury to feel loved and cared for—it’s what makes us emotionally secure. If it didn’t happen when we were children, says psychotherapist Tara Bennett-Goleman, meditation can help us develop a secure emotional base now.
Stream of Tears
Grief offers a unique opportunity, says bereaved mother Cecilia Mitra, but only if we’re not afraid to discover its primal source.
The Healing Journey: Rosalie’s Story
*Trigger warning: The abuse Rosalie suffered is described graphically in this story.* As a child, Rosalie had been severely abused by her father. When he was drunk he’d climb into her bed at night and rub his body against hers until he climaxed. If she resisted him, he’d hit her and threaten her with worse.…
Patience Isn’t Passive
Constance Kassor explains why patience isn’t a passive tolerance of harm. Instead, patience requires a recognition of the deep interconnectedness of the world and an active engagement with it.
The Answer to Anger & Aggression is Patience
We can suppress anger and aggression or act it out, either way making things worse for ourselves and others. Or we can practice patience.
When Sadness Rages Like Fire
Pema Khandro Rinpoche shares the life of the Tibetan yogi Shabkar, whose practice and teachings were inseparable from loss and grief.
Don’t Pull the Trigger
Sometimes all it takes is a word or simple event and our thoughts and emotions are off to the races. David Richo on the fear that’s behind our triggers—and the antidote to it.
Notice Craving and Aversion
To give yourself a fighting chance against negative patterns, says Josh Korda, you’ve got to get at the driving forces behind them.
Feeling Our Way to Awakening
The emotions we wish we didn’t have, that we’d like to just get over? Those feelings, say Jody Hojin Kimmel, are not obstacles on the path — they are the path.
A Conversation on Love and Rage: Lama Rod Owens and Kate Johnson
In this conversation featured in Lama Rod Owens' new book "Love and Rage," he and Buddhist teacher Kate Johnson discuss how the dharma can help us hold our anger and work with our rage.
Happiness Is a Kind of Flower
Thich Nhat Hanh on how we can see happiness in the world around us.
Calling on Jizo
In Japan, Jizo Bodhisattva is the “guardian of children who have died.” Zen priest and grief counselor Dojin Sarah Emerson recalls how the Jizo Ceremony helped after the death of her daughter.
How Do I Work with My Fear of Other People’s Anger?
You can’t stop people from being angry at you, advises Insight Meditation teacher Gina Sharpe, but you can change how it makes you feel.
How to Work with Emotions
Sharon Salzberg, Judith Simmer-Brown, John Tarrant, and the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche offer new perspectives on how to think about and engage with our emotional lives.
The Wisdom in Dark Emotions
Grief, fear and despair are part of the human condition. Each of these emotions is useful, says Miriam Greenspan, if we know how to listen to them.
Love Doesn’t Have to Mean Agreeing
Susan J. Stabile on how to live with — or even support — your partner’s differing religious beliefs.