Working through feeling blah
Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling a bit blah - a little tired, unmotivated, restless, just meh.
It happens fairly frequently. Through Vipassana, I’ve found a way to work through some of those emotions and feel a bit less blah.
Here’s how it works:
It starts with awareness and checking in with myself and my body. “Oh I’m not feeling great. I’m feeling a little tired and meh. I can notice that as a heaviness in my body.”
I try to take 3-10 deep breaths to center myself and reset my nervous system.
I remember anicca, or impermanence, one of Vipassana and Buddhism’s key concepts. This feeling, as with all things in life, is impermanent. This negative emotion will go away eventually — maybe in a few minutes, hours, or days (or even longer).
I practice some self compassion: even though this negative emotion feels like it’s going to cause tremendous harm, it probably won’t and I’m likely making it a bigger deal than it is. I will be okay.
Finally, I practice equanimity. I remind myself that my reaction to the emotion is what gives it its power. Instead I try to observe it and see it for what it is: an unpleasant sensation that will eventually go away. Once I can see it objectivity, it loses its potency.
This practice doesn’t involve discarding or rejecting the blah. It is about accepting and seeing the emotions for what they are.
I still felt blah for several hours yesterday. But instead of falling into my old instinct of fighting that emotion and feeling even more anxious, I was able to just recognize it for what it is and not let it take over my life.
I felt more in control, more grounded, and more capable of living my best life.
So simple. So powerful.