Wake Up! Relating to feelings as if they were from a dream

Sometimes when we awake from a vivid dream, we may feel great sadness, happiness, confusion, fear, or anxiety depending on the dream. The dream feels so real especially because we still feel the emotions even though we are fully awake. But how long do we feel those emotions? For just a moment, a few minutes, a few hours, maybe all day at the most? As we get up and start our daily routine, the emotions from the dream fade. 

In deepening my practice to detach myself from emotions and be less affected by them throughout the day, I started to relate to my emotions as if they were carried over from a dream.

The first day I tried this, I went to work and someone immediately annoyed me. I got so irritated. As soon as I was aware of my feeling, I immediately thought and imagined that the feeling was a remnant from a dream and I said to myself, "Wake Up!" 

After I perceived the emotion as if I had experienced it from a dream and knowing that emotions from a dream will fade, so too will this feeling fade. Sure enough, the feeling of irritation dissipated quickly. It was a breakthrough moment.  By being aware of a disturbing emotion, identifying it, and relating to it as temporary, my mind was at ease and the emotion seem to fade faster than usual.

I use this method all the time now. When someone or something makes me angry, annoyed, or sad, I just say "Wake Up!"and I snap out of it. Being aware and identifying the feelings stops the subconscious from feeding the emotion. Even if the feeling should still linger, I know it will dissipate, just like an emotion from a dream. 

It feels great to let go of emotions quickly when they do not serve me well. I gain a clear mind, composure and inner peace by not carrying these feelings with me throughout day. 

If you have a method in which you can detach from emotions, please post it in the comments section below.