Get
Those Emotions
in Motion
by Marie T. Russell
You
can't see them! You can't touch them! But you sure
can feel them! Unless of course you have them buried
under layers and layers of "protection" --
whether those layers are physical as in layers of extra
flesh, or emotional as in standoffish walls that
proclaim to the people around you, "don't get too
close".
Many of
us have been holding back and storing unfelt emotions.
What's the purpose? Unfortunately, the reason behind
suppressed emotions is self-defeating. Holding back from
"feeling your feelings" is usually how we try to
protect ourselves from being hurt. However, the
resistance to feeling your emotions when they arise is
what really causes pain.
Unfelt
and unexpressed emotions manifest in many ways. They may
be felt only on a "discomfort level", as if
something is wrong and you don't know what it is.
Sometimes it's even hard to pinpoint what exactly is
the cause of your dis-ease or dis-comfort. Maybe it's
a feeling of dissatisfaction with yourself, with your
life, with others around you. Sometimes it's a feeling
of anger or disappointment that doesn't seem to have a
cause. Yet, if you stop and question yourself as to the
cause of your confusion, the truth will come to the
surface. There is always a cause for our feelings --
it's just that many times we have hidden it from
ourselves as well as from others.
So the
first question is to ask yourself is "What am I
feeling?" The typical repressed answer is "I don't
know". Just walk past that hurdle by asking another
question: "What feelings am I not expressing?" If
that still draws a blank, then ask yourself "If I knew
what I was feeling, what would I say it is?" What is
your answer? Ah! ha! Usually that will bring up some
type of response... Is it sadness, anger, fear? What
answer do you get to the question? It may be more than
one thing... you may have many layers of levels of
feelings associated with your present state of mind or
moon.
Once you
have uncovered the emotions that you've been keeping
in storage or repressing, look at them. You don't need
to analyze and criticize. Don't judge yourself, blame
yourself, or tell yourself that you
"shouldn't" feel that way. Only look at them,
and tell them (the feelings) and tell yourself that it
is o.k. to feel this way. Then, let yourself feel your
anger, your sadness, your fear. Really feel it! Go ahead
and cry, or beat your pillow... whatever you feel to do
(just don't hurt anyone).
The
repressed emotions need to come out so they stop
poisoning you and your life. An example of how
repressed stuff still affects you: Imagine that you are
allergic to something. So you push the
"something" under the bed so you can't see it.
Well, will that help any at all? Of course not -- you'll
still be allergic, and even if you can't see the
"something", your allergies will still be
stimulated. The same goes with repressed emotions. Just
because you have stuffed them "under the bed",
doesn't mean they don't affect you. They do, and the
solution to your problems can be identifed even though
you've hidden or buried or repressed the cause.
The
body, especially once you have made the decision to heal
yourself, will always seek to become healthy and whole.
When energies are building up inside of you, somewhat
like a volcano's powerful gases, your body will do
everything in its power to get rid of the poison. It is
better for you, as well as for the people around you,
when you clear and release your emotions without
"dumping" on others. Those old feelings have nothing
to do with people around you anyway. They are your
stuff. It is surely better for you to release your
pent-up emotions in this way than picking a scapegoat to
bear the brunt of that energy, or repressing the
emotions inside and creating physical problems for
yourself.
Tell
yourself often that it is o.k. and safe to be a feeling
human being. Many times in our upbringing, we were told
not to show our anger, not to show our sadness or fears.
So consequently, we "behaved" and poisoned ourselves
by repressing those reactions to our daily life.
Take
time to be with yourself, especially when you feel
slightly out of kilter, and talk to yourself (silently
is fine). Ask yourself what it is that you're not
expressing, what you are not feeling... and then go into
those feelings. Feel them. Experience them. Feeling them
will free you to go on your way unburdened by the chains
of emotion that were binding you to your past.
Don't
be afraid that you are unlocking the door of the dam and
that you will be bowled over with a flood of emotions.
It may feel like that at first, but as the pressure of
unexpressed emotions releases, so will the pressure on
your self be lessened, and you will feel lighter. You
will not cry forever. The anger will not keep on
exploding forever. The pain will not go on forever. Once
you release the pressure, you can fully take off the
cover and let it flow out gracefully.
Free
yourself. Feel your inner child crying out for your
attention and your love. Allow yourself to be human.
Give yourself permission to feel. Be real! You may be
surprised... you'll like it!
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