i think hardly a day passes without some kind of emotional distress arising,
big or small, work related or personal life related...
be it anger, irritation, frustration etc etc etc
here's a line from ezra bayda that puts emotional distress into perspective,
practice perspective...
...emotional distress is a signal that we are experiencing life through the filter of an ideal, a picture or an expectation...
if there's enough mindfulness on that day on that occasion,
i might... just might rem to practice with the emotional distress =p
usually this is possible when i rem to do conscious breathing...
some steps that u might find helpful in such situations...
1. becoming aware of the distress energy arising within, breathing in breathing out,
thru conscious breathing, i might just be able to loosen my identification with the distress related thoughts a little, open up my mind a little and bring a practice perspective to the whole situation
2. refrain from my normal emotional reactions, be it justifications thru more thinking, blaming/lashing out at others or suppression within... all these of cse fuel more energy to the distress and makes e identification with the distress energy even more intense...
3. label the thinking, to clarify the mental process and not getting caught up within the juicy details of my thinking...
4. residing in the physical sensations of the negative emotion itself, this is returning to the here and now, and if the energy of mindfulness is strong enough, the emotional distress may start to slowly break up and slowly dissolve into something not so solid not so frightening...
but of cse to expect the emotional distress to dissolve is an expectation itself,
so just watch the whole process with interest and see what happens...
what is this?
may all be well n happy,
deep bow...
I am having a difficult struggle with emotional distress. I find that it is probably my greatest challenge in this life. Much of it seems to just naturally occur from people. And admittedly, some comes from within me. I'm just wondering what some good reading is on this topic (such as what you quoted). I would very much like to work on this aspect in my spiritual life.
ReplyDeleteSorry I have not accessed my blog for more than 2 years, hence this very belated reply, my sincere apologies.
ReplyDeleteOn recommended readings:
While there are a number of schools and teachings that I have come across that address this aspect of practice, I find Ordinary mind Zen school (founder - Charlotte Joko Beck) includes working with emotional difficulties as a major component of their style of Zen practice as well as giving very specific advice and techniques.
Personally I am very grateful for receiving teachings from Ordinary mind Zen school, like you, I also find myself struggling with emotional distress (big and small) on a regular basis. In general, I recommend reading books by Charlotte Joko Beck and her Dharma successors (such as Ezra Bayda). Specifically, I highly recommend "Being Zen" by Ezra Bayda where chapters 7 to 12 are dedicated to working with various forms of emotional distress.
Another teacher whose teachings you might find helpful will be Thich Nhat Hanh. His books also usually include some helpful techniques in dealing with emotional distress.
I hope the above is helpful!