What Is Mindfulness of Current Emotions in DBT? How to Ride the Wave
Mindfulness of Current Emotions is a DBT emotion regulation skill where you experience an emotion fully without acting on it or pushing it away, letting it rise and fall like a wave. At DBT Path, the original online DBT skills class taught online since 2013, you learn Mindfulness of Current Emotions so that even painful feelings become something you can move through, because an emotion you allow yourself to feel will eventually pass on its own.
Emotions are not emergencies. They are waves. They build, they crest, and if you do not feed them, they recede.
How to practice Mindfulness of Current Emotions
This skill, often called riding the wave, teaches your body that you can feel something intense and still be safe.
Observe the emotion in your body
Notice where you feel the emotion physically. Is it tightness in your chest, heat in your face, a pit in your stomach? Turn toward the sensation instead of away from it.
Step back and name it
Remind yourself that you are not the emotion, you are the one noticing it. Say to yourself, this is sadness, or this is anger. Naming it creates a little space between you and the feeling.
Let it be there without acting
Do not try to fix it, suppress it, or act on its urge. Just let the emotion be present. Resisting a wave makes it crash harder, while allowing it lets it move through.
Remember it will pass
No emotion lasts forever. Stay with it and watch it change. Like every wave, it will rise, peak, and gradually fall.
When to use it
Use Mindfulness of Current Emotions when a feeling is strong and you are tempted to act on it in a way you might regret, or to numb it. It is especially helpful with emotions that feel unbearable, because it proves to you that you can survive them without doing anything harmful.
How DBT Path teaches it
At DBT Path, you learn this skill in live, online classes led by founder Debbie DeMarco Bennett and Dr. Kathryn Holt, the same two teachers every week. Every week you also receive personalized written feedback on your skills practice from a trained DBT Path team member, so you can practice riding your own waves and build real confidence over time. It is one part of the full DBT curriculum: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. You can explore the online DBT classes or related skills like Opposite Action and Radical Acceptance. The approach is grounded in standard DBT as developed in Marsha Linehan’s research.
Frequently asked questions
What is Mindfulness of Current Emotions in DBT?
Mindfulness of Current Emotions is a DBT emotion regulation skill where you feel an emotion fully without acting on it or suppressing it, allowing it to pass like a wave. DBT Path teaches it as observing the emotion, naming it, allowing it, and remembering it will pass.
What does riding the wave mean?
Riding the wave means letting an emotion rise and fall naturally instead of fighting it or acting on it. At DBT Path you learn that allowing a feeling, rather than resisting it, is what lets it move through and ease.
Will the emotion really go away if I just feel it?
Emotions are time-limited and naturally subside when you stop feeding them with avoidance or rumination. DBT Path teaches Mindfulness of Current Emotions so you can experience this for yourself in a safe, supported way.
Is Mindfulness of Current Emotions a real DBT skill?
Yes. Mindfulness of Current Emotions is a standard emotion regulation skill in DBT, and DBT Path teaches it as part of the full evidence-based curriculum.
Ready to learn DBT skills with support? Explore the online DBT classes at DBT Path and join a welcoming class taught by the same teachers every week.