How To Not Feel Bad!
NOTE
I am not a medical professional. I am borderline stupid. If you are actually suffering, please seek out support. There exist many resources that can help you.
The Short Answer...
You cannot stop feeling bad.
The Better Answer...
You cannot stop feeling bad BUT you can reduce it.
Manansh's Quick Emotion Management Technique
The best name I could come up with. Don't judge me.
Step 0: Buy this book & STUDY Â it
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Is your peace worth less than $10? You tell me.
Step 1: Get off your screen
Much of our lives are spent on a screen. If you're feeling overwhelmed, chances are that you've consumed something online you shouldn't have.
Just turn away. Get the hell off.
Step 2: Go outside
The next step is elementary. You NEED to get outside. I don't care if it's cold. Just go.
Step 3: Do 10 Yogic Breaths
Have you ever watched how a sleeping baby breathes? Their little belly rising and falling, almost like clockwork.
Do something similar.
Do 10 diaphragmatic breaths.
Belly out -> belly in.
Step 4: Realize Thinking Makes You Feel Bad*
Friends, the solution to not feeling bad is so simple.
We have just overlooked it.
Reflect on the circumstances that led to your negative emotion. What was going on in your mind? For most, it looks like this:
Grasping and Aversion
This is what your mind does when it encounters thought. It either grasps it and doesn't let go or completely rejects the thought and tries to hide it.
Both will make you feel bad.
Every Negative Emotion You've Ever Felt Was The Spawn Of Thinking
I challenge you to prove me wrong.
Look within. Anytime you felt really bad was simply because you were either grasping or rejecting a thought. Your mind, like a swarm of bees, is harassing your innocent thoughts through thinking.
Wait, what's the difference between thought and thinking?
I have tried to explain it further in my post called "Thinking Is Suffering".
But the short of it is this.
Thought is the raw mental material.
Thinking is the action of ruminating about Thought.
Thought is the noun. Thinking is the verb
So yes, it was your thinking that made you feel bad. It was your reaction to the thought that gets you in a fix.
Step 4: Bring Awareness To Thinking
So the game is this.
You can't control the thought or the thinking of that thought. It's a very deep habit.
Instead, we're going to shorten the amount of time it takes to become AWARE of the above.
The quicker you become aware, the better you'll feel. The quicker the negative emotion will leave you. And you'll be free.
Step 5: Enhance Positive Feelings Through Non-Thinking
You want to feel good right?
A positive thought isn't the way to go. Because you'll just end up thinking about it.
Feel Bliss Through Non-Thinking
Let's do a thought experiment (got this from Joseph Nguyen).
Look back to a time you experienced true joy – try to recreate that feeling for 30 seconds.
Now, ask yourself: "What thoughts/thinking were happening at this time?"
Really think about this. What thoughts were running through your mind during that moment of joy?
We normally find 2 answers:
- No thoughts or thinking
- Thoughts about how happy they are
If you answered 2, then did you feel the joy before the thought or after?
woah.
If you're still tracking, you can feel ecstatically joyful without needing thought or thinking.
Why?
Because it was always quietly there. Like a peaceful stream.
Do you want to feel good? Then slip into non-thinking. Tap into the good that is already here. It takes no effort.
Thoughts will come and go. As is their nature. But you can be okay watching them, being the space that allows all thoughts to arise and eventually fall away.
And be bathed by that quiet river of joy!
A Process of Mental Undressing
This whole game is a process of undressing different layers of your mind.
You undress by bringing awareness to it – this tells your mind that you are not this mental process, you are that which knows it.
Step 6: Come back to the world with your heart on fire.
Go! Be happy.
with love,
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