So if you can learn how to get in touch with your breath and can smooth out the breath, then you have a grounding for developing and embodying skillful emotions, so they’re not just thoughts. You feel them in your body.

"If you breathe with more knowledge and alertness, it helps to develop more skillful emotions. Because what is an emotion? It’s a thought that gets in your body. It has an impact on your heart rate and other physical processes. Well, the impact comes through the breath. So if you can learn how to get in touch with your breath and can smooth out the breath, soothe out the breath when it gets erratic or disturbed, then you have a grounding for developing skillful emotions and embodying skillful emotions, so they’re not just thoughts. You feel them in your body."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Living Forward, Understanding Backward" (Meditations6)

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