6 March 2015 - QA 2

During meditation I am able to observe my breath patterns and the sensations in my body, and how it relates to feelings and thoughts. Yet, in the waking state, that power of observation diminishes. I get lost in the emotional experience. How can I stay more in the present?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You can't directly handle emotions. You need to attend to the source of it. To harness an emotion, you need to attend the source of emotion. It's not that today you attain calmness and then you try to maintain it all the time. Don't do that. Just let go.
Our wanting to hold on to a peaceful state itself becomes a stress, you should just be natural and spontaneous. You must have noticed, after you've started meditation, sometimes you become impulsive, and sometimes you react, but those reactive moments are very few. They come for a moment and then they disappear. You are able to bounce back to your original state very easily. Have you noticed this?