Aparigraha – not holding on to experiences, both positive and negative. Just experiencing.
Emotions are just what you feel, not what you are. Suffering happens when you cannot let go, or distance yourself from negative emotions. Suffering also happens when you cling on to positive experiences, which by their very nature, are momentary – they have to end sometime.
Writing down your negative and positive experiences helps to externalise your emotions – separating them from our core being.
We always say – I am angry, or I am happy, or I am sad…try instead to say – I am feeling angry, or I am feeling happy. This simple step helps the brain to understand that these emotions are feelings that you experience, and not an integral part of what you are. Distancing from emotions is the first step in feeing better, and at peace.
This does not mean that you become non-emotional – or cold as stone.
Emotions are to be felt and experienced. This is what makes us humans. The problem happens when we hang on to them.
Do this exercise for 21 days, and every week, spend an additional ten minutes in looking through what you wrote during that week. Pay special attention to how you wrote it – was your handwriting illegible, irregular, or full of mistakes? Chances are that you were describing a negative emotion. You may also find (like I did) that your writing starts smoothening out within 2 weeks of commencing the exercise – a sign that you are now able to reconcile with your emotions better, and more peaceful. Try it, and then make it a habit:)