Mindfulness at Agile Work – Day 4: Emotions – The Inner Landscape of Agile Work

From Pausing to Breathing to Body and Emotions: Learn how to notice your emotions and not getting caught up by them. Including a 5 Minute "Train your mind"-Practice.

Welcome to Day 4 of your Mindfulness at Agile Work Mini-Course!

In our first three sessions, we explored the power of pausing (Day 1), awareness of breath (Day 2), awareness of body (Day 3) as foundational mindfulness practices (find the links at the bottom). These skills help us cultivate focus, clarity, and the ability to respond rather than react.

Now, we move deeper into the flow of experience with our emotions.

The Role of Emotions in Agile Work

In an agile work environment, emotions shape the way we interact, collaborate, and make decisions. Consider a sprint review:

If you're feeling confident, you might view constructive feedback as an opportunity. If you're feeling uncertain, that same feedback may feel like criticism.

Or picture a high-stakes product launch—your excitement and energy could fuel creativity, or anxiety could cloud your judgment.

Emotions are not obstacles; they are signals. They provide data about what matters to us, about risks, about motivation.

In mindfulness, we don’t suppress emotions, nor do we let them control us. Instead, we cultivate awareness of them, allowing us to respond with clarity rather than react impulsively.

Mindfulness Practice: Observing Emotions with Curiosity

1. Find your anchor. Take a comfortable seat and bring your attention to your breath or body—your steady home base.

2. Observe the emotional landscape. What emotions are present right now? Excitement, frustration, calm, doubt?

3. Locate emotions in the body. Is there tightness in the chest? Lightness in the shoulders? A warmth in the belly? Instead of analyzing, simply feel.

4. Welcome emotions like guests. Acknowledge each one as it comes, without judgment. Imagine greeting them with a gentle nod.

5. Return to the breath. If an emotion feels overwhelming, let the breath be your refuge, steadying your attention.

Like agile retrospectives, this practice helps us inspect and adapt—not just our work processes, but our inner experiences.

Listen to the practice

Mindfulness at Work: Emotional Awareness in Action

Throughout the day, pause when emotions arise—whether in a meeting, an email exchange, or while solving a problem. Ask yourself:

• What am I feeling right now?

• Can I be present with this emotion without pushing it away or over-identifying with it?

Take three deep breaths and notice how this small act of mindfulness shifts your perspective.

By staying present with emotions rather than being ruled by them, we cultivate resilience, improve collaboration, and make decisions with greater clarity.

---

See you in Day 5, where we explore more about how we experience emotions. For now, let’s practice how to feel emotions in the body, with kindness and curiosity.

Here is Day 1: Pause for Presence

Here is Day 2: The magic of your own breath

Here is Day 3: Mindfulness of body

Here is Day 4: Emotions

Here is Day 5: Thinking

Here is Day 6: Self Judging Mind

Here is Day 7: Beginner's mind

Here is Day 8: Compassion and Empathy

Here is Day 9: Power of intention

Coming soon Day 10: Listening