fEeL iT . . . tHeN sEt iT fReE . . .

Spiritual Solutions: Extreme Emotions

TheChopraWell

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. 

Conscious breathing is my anchor.”

― Thich Nhat Hanh

You may already know that lately, I've been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster. One of the things that's tough about it, is not resisting the fact that I am on this roller coaster called LIFE.

First, a wave of

overwhelm, fear, & sadness

kind of takes me over;

and soon after that, I feel pretty

anxious & panicky

for a time.

To be honest,

feeling stuff

has not been something I have been
very good at in my life.

What is difficult for me is to move into my feelings to go through them, express them, and release them. I suppose I try to suck them up and go around, or deny them and try to get stronger. This process actually makes me literally sick. As Rilke notes,

Let everything happen to you,

Beauty and terror.

Just keep going,

No feeling is final.

~ Rainer Marie Rilke

I suppose that when I deny feelings, it makes them STRONGER, because in resisting, the energy gets more dense in its frequency. I get scared that I will get sucked in and never come out the other side--I will forever become the feeling of fear, sadness, or overwhelm. 
The video above from the Chopra Center is about how to feel and release extreme emotions. CHeCk iT oUt! Here's a recap of the steps in BLaCk:

1. Take responsibility for your present emotions
2. Witness what you are feeling
3. Label your feelings
4. Express your feelings
5. Share your feelings with someone you trust
6. Release toxic emotions through a ritual
7. Celebrate the release of the feelings

I personally love when stuff is laid out in steps, and looking at these, I feel like the most challenging ones for me have been---ALL OF THEM! but especially 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7. Taking care of our emotional lives is just as important as our nutritional needs and our physical bodies; without the dark, we would not realize there was light. And we certainly cannot get on the "other side" of our feelings without moving through; going around just brings us back to where we started.

LotS of hUgs!

Dana