How to work with your emotions
When faced with rousing emotions, it’s common to become reactive. Author and researcher Karla McLaren says our typical pattern is: SITUATION —> EMOTION —> ACTION. This lends itself to issues and, not infrequently, regrets. Kneejerk reactions often require apologies and repairs in their aftermath; they always have consequences. Reactivity isn’t efficient or effective, and it […]
Sometimes soft is strong
“It’s very hard to stay flexible the older you get.” I heard Amy Poehler say that on a podcast, and she was referring to much more than limber hamstrings and open hips. This wasn’t a passing comment about why we should stretch. She was talking about something deeper. Something I’ve noticed in myself and have […]
Mindfulness is great — just don’t fall into this extremely tempting trap
One of the beautiful fruits of mindfulness is choice. When mindful, we aren’t susceptible to unconscious, automatic reactions. Whereas a mindless response to being cut off in traffic may be to slam your horn and reflexively rage about “drivers these days,” a mindful approach sees the event with some remove, notices budding emotions, and selects […]
Understand your emotions to grow and heal
The pandemic has elevated everyone’s baseline stress and brought many underlying issues to the surface. So this seemed like a good time to talk to an emotions expert. Karla McLaren is an author and researcher who believes our emotional intelligence tends to be chronically underdeveloped. In her book, “The Language of Emotions,” she says turning […]