When you are feeling something emotional happening, take a moment and sit with that feeling. How does your body react? Usually muscles tense up. Where is this happening? For me, it is frequently in my shoulders and jaw. Then there is some emotional pain which hits me in my core, my chest tightens, my stomach churns. Recognizing the signs of our own anxiety and/or emotional pain means that we can then respond in healthier ways.
Sit with that feeling. Breathe. What thoughts are going through your mind? How are you framing the situation? Can you reframe: from I have lost a job, to this is an opportunity for something more fulfilling. This is not to ignore or discount the pain from the loss but to see beyond that loss. Were there benefits from that experience that can help propel you forward? Is this pain from something negative that I think is happening, or some negative expectation? Is this my own negativity? We create our own story and the way in which we tell that story to ourselves is fundamental in how effectively we are able to deal with painful situations.
But maybe you are not ready to reframe or just need to process the negative emotions from an experience. That’s okay too. Sit. Breathe. Tune in to your body. Notice the thoughts that arise with that experience. Notice the emotions that arise. Notice the reactions in your body, the pattern in your thoughts. Keep taking deep breaths. Let go of those negative thoughts. Breathe into your body, breathe into the areas that need to let go.
What have you learned? What can you be grateful for? What can you carry forward? Where do you want to go?
22 November 2019
To the Well 