Meditation and the Art of Letting Feelings Move
Six reflections on how meditation transforms the way we feel
What happens to our emotions when we stop running from them?
This final chapter of the Trying to Meditate mini-series is about that change.
Across the previous chapters, we explored what meditation actually is, how to meet resistance, and how the body participates in the practice. Here, we arrive at what feels like the heart of it all: our emotional life.
So, I asked the same thoughtful creators one last question:
“How did meditation change your relationship with your emotions?”
Nick Hashemi from The Mindfulness Mentor: Peace Notes from a Former Monk
Nick’s work is truly special. A former Buddhist monk turned mindfulness mentor, Nick writes about Vipassana Meditation in a way that feels simple and doable.
“Before meditation, anxiety felt like a cage around my chest, and my heartbeat followed me like a shadow into every room. Through thousands of hours of Vipassana practice, that grip began to loosen.
I discovered that thoughts and emotions aren’t “me.” They’re not commands or truths, but passing events, like clouds moving through the sky. By watching them without reacting, their power faded. Fear and anxiety didn’t disappear, but they no longer controlled me. I could feel them arise, and let them pass. That shift was life-changing.”
Sonia from Tranquil Nurturing Space
Sonia’s Substack is a place of poetry, reflection, and mindfulness. Her writing invites us to slow down and nurture body, mind, heart, and soul.
“Meditation has helped me cultivate self-awareness and create a gentle pause between feeling an emotion and reacting to it. Over time, I’ve learned to meet emotions with curiosity and kindness rather than judgment. Instead of seeing emotions as “good” or “bad,” I’ve come to view them as signals — little messages guiding us towards what needs attention or care. Through meditation, we give ourselves the space to listen to these signals, breathe through them and discover the wisdom they carry.”
Alexis Vale from Hidden Frameworks
Alexis explores the architecture of transformation with a fresh perspective. His unique work guides readers towards deeper alignment and meaning through spiritual curiosity and lived experience.
“Completely.
I went from barely noticing what I was feeling to developing an inner signal, almost like an alarm that goes off whenever I’m getting swept up by a dark mood.
It’s still not always easy to listen to that alarm, but the more I meditate, the clearer and more precise that signal becomes.”
VedicSoul - By~ A Bhardwaj from VedicSoul
A Bhardwaj writes beautifully about central themes of the human experience such as vulnerability and desire. He inspires us through ancient wisdom and his own profoundly human lens.
“As a person from my childhood, I was very intense. Meditation transformed my relationship with emotions, from resistance to reverence. Earlier, I used to see emotions as something to be fixed or avoided; anger as failure, sadness as weakness, fear as an enemy. Before a consistent practice, my emotions often felt like sudden storms I was caught in; they would arrive with overwhelming force, and I would either be carried away by their intensity or expend great energy resisting them. Meditation taught me to sit at the very centre of the storm, in a place of stillness. I began to understand that an emotion is not the totality of who I am; it is a passing energy, a visitor in the field of my awareness. This simple but profound discernment created a space between my core self and the feeling, allowing for response instead of reaction.
Now, emotions are less like masters and more like messengers. I have learned to extend a tender hospitality to them all; the joy, the sorrow, the fear, inviting them in for tea, allowing deep self-study, the gentle art of observing the inner world without judgment. Through this, meditation became a mirror. I learned to watch my feelings arise, peak, and fade, without labelling them as “good” or “bad.” When anger appeared, I noticed how it felt in the body. When sorrow came, I let it sit with me. Slowly, I discovered that every emotion carries wisdom; a call to presence, a doorway to understanding the self. Listening to what they have to say, without letting them change my core Self. This has cultivated a deep, abiding trust in my own inner resilience, knowing that no matter what arises, there is a part of me that remains whole, undisturbed, and inherently peaceful.”
Sue Reid from Confidence Matters by Sue Reid
Sue is a confidence coach with such an inspiring life story. She meditates every morning and says the practice has helped her a lot in her journey towards self-belief.
“I used to get quite angry and then cry. It was often difficult for me not to cry when someone annoyed me. That alone made me feel ashamed for showing my weakness. The main benefit of meditation has been to stabilise my mood and allow negative emotions to pass through me.”
Paul Dalton (dharma⌁licious) from dharma⌁licious
Paul is a mindfulness meditation teacher who blends Buddhist teachings with modern life in a powerful way. His reflections make ancient teachings both digestible and practical.
“I had lived with recurring episodes of anxiety and depression throughout my life and came to meditation in the hope that I could be ‘fixed’. Not only did I believe it was wrong to be experiencing these states, but I also felt there must be something wrong with me. Meditation has completely transformed the relationship I have with my ‘self’ and my emotional life.
I have learned the skill of emotional honesty—recognising, accepting, and allowing emotions to be as they are. By repeatedly witnessing them without judgement I have developed a deep trust that there are no bad emotions, just natural and lawful movements of energy, arising and passing away due to ever changing causes and conditions. I now recognise they are not personal to me. They are the consequence of being innocently born into a human body with a human mind. It’s only when I cling to them (by trying to control them) that they cause necessary suffering.
Anxiety still visits from time to time, but I no longer resist its presence. Instead, I make a welcoming space for it, as I now do for joyful states too. I see again and again how quickly unsettling emotions can pass through when they’re met with patience and compassion.”
Reading these responses, a clear thread emerges.
Meditation doesn’t remove emotions.
Emotions move from being something we’re trapped inside, to something we can notice.
From storms that sweep us away, to messages we can listen to.
They’re no longer enemies to fight or problems to solve. They become visitors. Signals. Passing experiences that don’t define the whole of who we are.
And that’s the promise of meditation: a deeper trust in our capacity to feel without being consumed.
This marks the end of the Trying to Meditate mini-series, and I want to say how grateful I am to the wonderful creators who generously shared their experience here. Nick, Sonia, Alexis, A. Bhardwaj, Sue, and Paul, it’s been a real joy to explore this topic with you all, and I’ve learned from every single response.
Thank you to our readers for engaging, reflecting, and trying this practice with curiosity.
If nothing else, I hope this series made meditation feel a little easier and a little more possible.
Save this series for the days your mind tells you you’re “bad at meditation.”
And if you missed them, here are Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4:
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It has been a joy to read these posts from such great creators. I am honoured to be a part of the series. Thank you so much Ilham for the invitation. Thank you also to my wonderful co-creators. You are all amazing 💕
These words touched a place I know well —
the threshold where emotions tremble before becoming language.
Meditation has taught me to sit with that trembling,
to let feelings move without forcing them to speak too soon.
I’m grateful for the honesty in these reflections.