Feel How you Feel.

The notion of feeling your feelings sounds so simple. A lot of us think that we of course, feel our feelings, and don’t realize the ways in which we try to numb our difficult emotions at all costs, and the toll that can take on our physical and emotional bodies. 

Photo Credit: WOO WOO

To truly feel our feelings, we can’t run. We can’t look for the nearest and quickest escape when we come head to head with feeling. We need to turn toward the discomfort and allow ourselves to fully immerse in what we are experiencing. This can be a scary experience, and may seem like doing this is counter productive, that turning toward our emotions and allowing them to wash over us fully will cause them to stay forever. In reality, our feelings want to be seen, heard and recognized in order to pass. What we resist persists and difficult feelings and emotions can come and go with ease if we give them the space to exist and deliver their message. 

Allowing ourselves to be uncomfortable is an important part of this practice, and an important part of life. The duality of our feelings is part of human nature, and if we don’t fully feel the emotions that feel heavier, we can never experience the true range of joy, love, and bliss that we are capable of. 

Practice

Take note next time you begin to feel restless, sad, or scared, what you turn to to try to avoid the experience. It could be food, a drink, scrolling social media, or anything else that distracts you from yourself. See if instead, you can sit with what is coming up. Place one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly and breathe into the feeling until it subsides and your intuition points you to the next step. 

A lot of us tend to try to deny these experiences but these emotions are occurring with purpose. Our emotions surface to direct us to where we need to heal, where we need to nourish ourselves deeper. These feelings are coming up for us to feel them fully so they can be released.

Next time you’re in an uncomfortable emotional state, instead of avoiding or numbing, allow yourself to become fully present with the feeling. Breathing into the sensations it creates in the body, exploring it fully. Become curious. You’ll begin to notice the more present you become with these feelings, the sooner they pass and the less power they have over you. 

Trust that these experiences are impermanent, you are safe to experience them fully. They are simply passing through, and the more present you become with them, the quicker they will pass.