I'm sitting at my desk at work, trying to complete some tasks and map out a plan for the next few weeks and was suddenly blindsided by tears. This is coming seemingly out of nowhere and I don't like it. With all the work my therapist and I did with mindfulness and meditation, I feel like I've forgotten how to do it. I'm trying to accept these feelings in order to validate them and move on from them, but my brain is sabotaging me right now.

I don't like when this happens. And I'm feeling like a failure - not only for being unable to sort my next few weeks out (or life, in general), but also for not being able to just let these emotions slide.

[winter4me]

Sometimes, we have to let the emotions take us, engulf us, wash like a storm over us; the mindfulness practice can allow you to accept this and to not act (or judge yourself) in a negative way as you weather the too-frequent storms.
Allow yourself time to put aside for this. The tasks will be there for you when it passes.
(believe me, I wish I could take my own advice much more often than I am able...)
we are here, and thinking of you.

[Fuzzybear]

[Frankbtl]

I'm late I'm sorry, but in that kind of situation I'd say time for a "breather"/ a toilet break? Then allow those feelings to come out, trying to bottle them up is really doing yourself no favours (with a bit of space you might be able to grasp at a bit of a reason/cause/trigger but if you can't that's OK too).
Then if you can kick in some constructive way of dealing with those feelings, whatever works for you, then great but if the feelings are too intense to allow you to do that maybe just go with something really simple like focusing on your breathing or counting in your head or repeating something in your head e.g. "this will pass" or any short phrase that means something to you. Then I'm hoping the feelings will subside just enough for you to go back to what you've been practicing in way of the mindfulness.
But remember that just because the feelings have been so intense doesn't necessarily mean that the work you're doing isn't working, it can be a gradual process towards lessening the frequency or intensity of what you've been through/are going through today. Don't give up (!!), but do talk about it with your therapist.
And there are always going to be times/periods when we're at a standstill in sorting out the next week/s or the future, so it can be as much about just accepting "not now"/"not yet" and aiming for things that may make things a little better and bring us just a little closer to being able to start thinking about those things.
AND you are NOT a failure!!
There for you.
Alison

To clarify, I don't think that the slight breakdown actually had anything to do with work or what's going on there. It just happened to coincide with time spent organizing things there.

I'm happy to report that I haven't had another moment like that since it happened. I recognize it's only been a couple of days, but still, that's a good thing. I have been tempted to contact my therapist, but I only have a couple of sessions left that are covered and I'd rather save them just in case, considering this issue is really minor. Perhaps I'll wait to see if this is a recurring issue.

[Frankbtl]

Hi, that is good news that it hasn't happened again. Maybe as much a "build up" of things going on at the time or feeling overwhelmed??
Good on you for pulling back from it though!!! If you're "back on track", yes, I'd agree with waiting for another appointment first.
If you can think about any reasons it might have happened and try to avoid/resolve those difficulties as/if they come up again that may help but otherwise times like that may come from nowhere, come AND go.
But you're OK now, GOOD news!!!
Alison