Wine tasting and emotions

Remember the last time you went wine tasting?

The differences among the wines can be so subtle.

Those who spend a life inquiring about those differences end up being able to name a grape, region, year, and sometimes even the winery from anywhere in the world.

We have the same opportunity of inquiry with the subtle flavors of our emotions.

Try this exercise:

Prepare three topics of thought that you know will trigger different emotions in you.

Preferably one unenjoyable emotion and two enjoyable emotions (ie, grateful, sad, excited).

Set a timer for 90 seconds.

Start the timer and begin thinking about the enjoyable topic, while focusing on the sensations of the emotion.

Reset the timer and meditate while focusing only on breath for the next 90 seconds. This is equivalent of cleansing your palate!

Cycle this way through all three emotions.

Enjoyable-reset-unenjoyable-reset-enjoyable-reset.

Then reflect upon what you learn.

Like wine tasting, sometimes you you’ll like the emotion and sometimes you won’t. Either way, it’s good to remember the differences so you can recognize them before accidentally ordering them.