The first instinct may be to ignore the difficult emotion, push it down and push it away. No one likes the way that a difficult emotion makes them feel – tense body, rattled mind, racing heart, jittery, weighed down – and so distraction or ignoring the emotion (or situation) seems easiest at the time.

This strategy works for a while but it doesn’t confront or transmute the difficult emotion. Sometimes you can’t even put a solution into place to solve your way out of experiencing it. Even when you do it may facilitate growth of the difficult emotion rather than processing it and helping you grow through it.

So what can you do to feel better when the difficult emotion won’t go away?

You sit with the difficult emotion and actually go through it. Feel it. Transmute it.

Leaning into the emotion works best for me when I remind myself that I am safe within that emotion and even if it feels terrible right now that won’t last. I connect to my Inner Truth (IT) of love and self-compassion while also practicing grounding mindfulness exercises in between leaning into the bursts of tears or anger or fear or worry.

How do I know this works? Just look at that smile…