Be mindful and name that feeling—or write about it—to decrease anxiety

This research on labeling the affect (naming your feeling) will not be new to anyone who has been reading this blog (see, for example, this post) or who has attended my programs but I wanted to call your attention to an excellent article posted by Dana Foundation with an overview of related research . (The article contains some new information, too; I recommend reading it.)

From "When Labeling an Emotion Quiets It":

Brain imaging now supports what psychotherapists, writers, and the philosopher Baruch Spinoza have observed: Simply recognizing and naming an emotion quells its effect, making thoughtful management of subsequent behavior more likely. Psychotherapists employ this phenomenon when treating patients. Writers who turn their attention on themselves often discover it. And in his Ethics, Spinoza observed that “An emotion, which is a passion, ceases to be a passion, as soon as we form a clear and distinct idea thereof.” At that point, Spinoza observed, the mind becomes less submissive to the emotion, and can exercise greater control over it.

Click to read the rest.