This write-up is a continuation of the blog ‘weather-proofing your day’. In the first part of the blog, I had shared how hot weather teaches us techniques to manage emotions. I shared the power of pause, getting in touch with the breath, and using the triad (focus, physiology, and language) to change the lens of looking at things.
In this blog, I will share what rainy weather reminds me of, and what analogies I see between rainy weather and navigating emotions.
If you have an umbrella when it rains, it saves you from getting wet. Similarly, you can create an imaginary umbrella to protect yourself from getting soaked in emotions caused by unkind comments, self-critical talk, or unnecessary worry. The important thing to remember is this word, “soaked”. For example, It’s normal to feel bad when someone says something unkind but if we continue to feel bad and let it affect our whole day, then it starts affecting our well-being. The imaginary shield will also help to look at the situation from a distance. You can tell yourself that you are not the emotion, you are feeling the emotion, e.g., I am feeling sad instead of I am sad. It is important not to identify with the emotion.
If you forget the umbrella and get drenched, what are your choices? You quickly change out of wet clothes. In daily life, there are many situations where we feel drenched in emotions of fear, doubt, anxiety, worry, guilt, etc. Just as we remove wet clothes, we can take action to step out of the emotions we feel we are soaked in. We can do an emotional audit and ask ourselves questions, e.g.,
What am I thinking?
What am I feeling?
What do I want now?
How am I getting in my way?
What do I need to do differently?
The emotional audit helps create self-awareness and self-management. It changes our perspective and allows us to step out of the emotions we are soaked in. Also, when we reach home drenched in rain, we love to drink tea! You can treat yourself to a cup of tea while doing the emotional audit. If you do this regularly, you may notice patterns in your triggers, and you will develop a framework to handle them. I would love to hear from you about the alternate choices that you think of.