You Are Not Your Moods - Mindful

Emotions (like rage) are a jolt of energy with a short duration and are also called ‘action potentials’. This is because they provide information that energizes you towards a particular action.

Moods are states of mind shaped by our current problems, stress, thought and rumination. Moods that go on longer than a day or two can cause anxiety or depression.

Our environment provides us with triggers like food, caffeine, job stress, a swear word from a driver, rain or music, that can cause us to form a certain mood, or feel a certain emotion inside us.

These triggers are often subtle and can be routinized by our mind. The worst part is that we don’t consider ourselves as a witness to a mood or emotion, but become the mood or emotion itself. This false sense of self leaves no space between the emotion and our own identity.