Listen to your emotions. Make friends with your emotions.

Our emotions often get us in trouble. When we're angry, our stomachs knot, our hearts race, and our troublesome thoughts can haunt us for hours. Our emotions release chemicals into our bloodstream that drain our energy and focus from what's important.

It may be tempting to label strong emotions as "the enemy," but refusing to acknowledge them will simply postpone their negative impact, as they will come back to continue wreaking havoc.

Emotions carry important information and cannot simply dissipate. Research shows that to be successful in life, we need to be able to name and accurately describe the emotions we experience.

This is where meditation can help.

By learning to slow down, observe, recognize, and respond appropriately rather than just reacting, we can learn to recognize that anger sometimes means the expectations we held are no longer possible.

When you understand your emotions and the messages they convey, you can respond to your situation in a way that allows you to exist in harmony with not only yourself but the world around you.

Here are two easy steps to making friends based on your emotions.

Step 1: Welcome your emotions.

Close your eyes and carefully imagine your environment: the air, the smells, the sensations. Now imagine your emotions stepping into that environment. Go with the first image that comes to your mind - what do your emotions look like? What shape are they? Do they resemble a human? How old are they?

Now imagine your emotions sitting at a comfortable distance from you. Politely acknowledge them and engage them in conversation. Ask them a simple question: What action are you asking me to take in my life?

Now let's consider that proposal.

 

Step 2: Welcome opposing emotions.

Every emotion has an opposite.

When you experience only one half of a complete pair, you remain stuck in a one-sided experience. Only when you open yourself to the full range of emotions can you become free.

Repeat the exercise in Step 1 - first imagine your environment and the emotion it evokes. When you're ready, imagine the opposite step into the same environment. Once both are comfortably settled, move back and forth between them. Notice how your body feels as you do so. You should experience a general sense of well-being.

If you feel overwhelmed by emotions, try these suggestions and remember that emotions are messengers who convey information about actions that can give you life.

There are always two sides to a story, but just as we take time to strengthen our muscles, we also need to gradually train our emotional resilience to deal with all human emotions.