Yogi: When emotions are strong and thinking is obvious, I watch the thinking.

Sayadaw: If emotions are strong, it is better to pay attention to the feeling, not the thinking. If you pay attention to thinking, the mind is more interested in the story, and the emotions will increase.

Emotion is not concept, there is no story; you can ground your awareness on the emotion and just know that thinking is happening. That’s better.

The awareness can then become better and better because the mind is not involved with thoughts.