Chapter 4

<p>Emotions are things we feel, but they also involve physical systems within our body and brain. Unlike unemotional thoughts, there is a sense of investment in emotion: we, or our bodies, care about something. If we think about something we don’t care about at all, or have no investment in, we’re unlikely to get emotional about it. The more we care about something, the stronger our emotional response tends to be. This chapter therefore focuses on what can be called “emotional hygiene.” First of all, this means developing a basic literacy about emotions, such as being able to identify and name them, as well as their characteristics. On a deeper level, it means cultivating practices of emotional discernment and emotion regulation for the benefit of both oneself and others.</p>