When you are associated, you feel the feelings that go with the experience.

When you are dissociated, you have feelings about the experience.

You are associated when:

• You are in the here and now.
• You are absorbed in what you are doing in the present and do not track time passing.
• You are inside your body looking out from your own eyes.
• You feel your bodily sensations.

Association is good for:

• Enjoying pleasant experiences.
• Enjoying pleasant memories.
• Practicing a skill.
• Paying attention

You are dissociated when:

• You are thinking about something rather than being in it.
• You feel at a distance from what you are doing.
• You see yourself in your imagination, you are not looking out through your own eyes.
• You are aware of time passing.
• You are at a distance from your bodily sensations.

Dissociation is good for:

• Reviewing experience.
• Learning from past experience.
• Keeping track of time.
• Taking a step back from unpleasant situations.