How to notice but not react

– Add a conclusion that summarizes the main points and reinforces the importance of cultivating emotional awareness.

You must learn to treat your emotions as things you notice but do not take action on. This can be very difficult, but there are a few strategies to do this effectively.

One strategy is imagining about your emotions as helium-filled balloons floating away. We notice they are there, but we do not allow our actions to mirror them. An example of using this strategy is letting go of your anger in a highly emotional situation by imagining your anger as a helium-filled balloon.

Another strategy is imagining your emotions as clouds. You can notice them floating by up in the sky, but they do not necessarily have an impact on your behaviors. An example of this strategy is noting your own sorrow at horrific world-events. Notice that the sorrow is present, but not allow it to affect your actions.

A third strategy for practical way is to imagine that you’re the driver of a bus. The bus stops sometimes to pick up passengers, which are your emotions. You notice the passengers coming onto the bus, but you do not react to them, like a bus driver is aware of passengers getting on a bus, but does not react to them. I’m not saying a bus driver won’t acknowledge you if you say something to them, but this is not the point of this analogy. An example of how this strategy can be applied is to imagine you’re surrounded by loved ones having a discussion. Certain loved ones bring up a viewpoint you find highly problematic, and you simply notice the presence of disgust or revulsion you feel, and do not react to these emotions.

Some benefits of separating your emotions from your actions include improved decision making and reduced impulsiveness. Bad decision making and increased impulsiveness are often a result of acting based on your emotions, and so learning how to separate the two can mitigate bad decision making and impulsivity.