Mindfulness is a proven mechanism for Emotional Stability and is becoming more popular than the long-sought-after ideal happiness everyone dreams of. However, it’s often accompanied by a monotonous superficiality.

So, if the pursuit of happiness doesn’t result in long-term well-being, what does? Fuochi suggests that “one answer is affective balance—that is, relatively high levels of positive emotions and low levels of negative emotions.” In other words, emotional Stability, which Fuochi defines in the following passage by once again drawing upon others’ research:

Emotional stability involves small fluctuations in emotional states, such that when positive or negative self-relevant events occur, people respond without experiencing intense emotional spikes. Manifest emotional stability patterns involve what is often called “equanimity”—“an even-minded mental state or dispositional tendency toward all experiences or objects, regardless of their affective valence (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral) or source (Desbordes et al., 2015).”

There is plenty of research attempting to define the parameters of emotional stability. Anna Shydelko, Ph.D., has written a paper on “Emotional Stability of an Individual: Research into the Topic,” highlighting reputable scholars’ interpretations of how emotional stability manifests. These include the works of Polish researcher J. Reykowski, who, according to Shydelko, defines emotional stability as “an individual’s ability to hold his/her own under conditions of social instability.”

Despite multiple definitions being available, Shydelko says most scholars agree that “emotional stability should be considered as an integrative property or quality of a personality.” Basically, emotional stability is a personality trait. The good news is that it can also be developed over time, so a person can learn to be more emotionally stable.

Mindfulness and emotional stability

Further drawing upon the research of other scholars, Fuochi explains how a person can develop emotional stability and equanimity by “paying attention to our outer and inner phenomena with open and receptive awareness, a process that is commonly known as mindfulness. Having a non-judgmental, non-reactive, present-focused orientation helps people accept changing life circumstances, thereby enabling equanimity (e.g., Hanh, 1998; Kumar, 2002; Leary & Tate, 2007; Wallace & Shapiro, 2006).”

Fuochi reminds us that mindfulness elicits emotional stability, an idea that has circulated since Buddhist writings dating back to around 400 B.C. The doctoral researcher quotes the Samyutta Nikaya, translated by Nyanaponika Thera: “He dwells in happiness who has equanimity and is mindful.”

Supported by Fuochi’s research studies, including the citations of other researchers, we can appreciate that emotional stability and well-being can be developed through mindfulness, leading “to improvements in psychological symptoms, well-being, and resilience over time (Orzech, Shapiro, Brown, & McKay, 2009).”

You could understand the practice of mindfulness as the same as training yourself to “dis-identify from the contents of consciousness (Bajaj & Pande, 2016),” or, in other words, training yourself not to become attached to events, situations and people.

Practicing non-attachment

The concept of dis-identification and non-attachment is best observed in the case of nurses at work, who learn early in their career how to regulate their emotions and detach from stressful situations with patients. This helps them avoid emotional instability on the job.

Pushpika Subhashinie Mullakanda and Kumudinei Dissanayake have performed a case study to assess emotional intelligence in a sampling of 40 nurses of varying ranks and demographic backgrounds. The authors write that emotional intelligence is a two-dimensional “concept[s] directed towards self- and others.” It has four main components, including the ability to:

• “perceive self-emotions” (self-awareness)
• “utilize these emotions to guide self-thinking and actions” (self-management)
• “understand emotions of others” (social awareness)
• “manage emotions to achieve goals” (relationship management)

As per the analysis of the answers given to open-ended questions by the nurses, the strategy of “maintaining gap between emotions and self,” a choice among several options, “was performed by the majority … in order to maintain emotional stability at work.”

Content vs. context

Maintaining the gap between your emotions and the self is the same as creating a distance between your 3-D content (emotions, thoughts, experiences, relationships, things and so on) and your situational context (the relationship between self and other) to gain greater clarity on the context.

In the context of ‘other,’ context is more than one ‘other’ or person—it includes your public and professional spheres, your social circles, the institutions you visit or belong to, your city, your country, the global climate and hundreds of years of your family and global history.

Notice how the overall context (including all people, places and things) encompasses more life, in general, than your content (you/your life, the places you’ve been, the things you have and the situations you handle regularly), and offers greater benefits to you and your context.

A nurse, Ash, considers her context when going to work overtime, only to find a hassling boss and quarreling patients there. She still finds the patience to set aside her own thoughts and feelings so she can mindfully determine what the best course of action is in the general context. She knows her kids need her to work so she can provide for them, and she knows her patients need to see her calm and collected so their procedures go smoothly. She knows her own experience with the patients has been pleasant and rewarding.

Try to be emotionally stable—not happy

Reason and statistics teach that it’s wise to practice non-attachment in order to see the context of a situation and refrain from becoming unstable emotionally, as the fictitious nurse known as Ash so excellently does. This can help you expand your perspective on the narrow contents of your life, and by regularly exercising your thoughts in this way, you’ll be practicing mindfulness. In turn, this will enable you to become more emotionally and mentally stable so you can handle stressful situations with resilience and cultivate greater well-being in your life.

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