It’s not possible to make our best decisions unless we include our emotions and bodies in the decision.

TAKEAWAYS:

• Separate emotions from narratives (stories) about who is to blame or what needs to be done. Just feel the feelings.

• Notice your feelings in your body. Again, just feel the feelings. 

• Then you can breathe in and out or move your body to release the feelings.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE:

• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership (Conscious Leadership Group), especially Commitment 3: Feel the Feelings.

• Brené Brown: Two of her TED talks plus many books. Explore at brenebrown.com and The Power of Vulnerability .

• For a more academic overview: Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman. Explore his book and his other resources.

• Lisa Feldman Barrett, neuroscientist and psychologist: https://lisafeldmanbarrett.com/ or her two books, How Emotions are Made: The Secret of the Brain (2017) and 7-1/2 Lessons About the Brain (2021)

• Marriage Encounter helps married couples identify and share their feelings with each other. Check it out at https://wwme.org.

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Through Riggs Integral Coaching, Susan Riggs works with individuals and teams to help them live and work with depth, purpose, and joy. She is a certified Integral Coach® through New Ventures West, an associate certified coach through the International Coaching Federation, and a certified Myers-Briggs® trainer. She has many years of experience working with community health centers and other nonprofit organizations.

Through Serenity and Health, Donna Chacko shares information, inspiration, and perspective in her monthly blog to help others enhance their physical and mental health and grow closer to God. She practiced medicine for 40 years, first as a radiation oncologist and later, as a family medicine doctor. What she learned from caring for cancer patients, and later immigrants and the homeless in Washington, D.C., continues to influence her message. She is the author of “Pilgrimage: A Doctor’s Healing Journey.”