No one wants to feel their feelings. A bold statement, I know—but true. According to Madisyn Taylor:
"All too often we set our feelings aside, thinking we will deal with them later. If we don't deal with them, we end up storing them in our minds and bodies and this is when anxiety and other health issues can arise. Denying what our bodies want to feel can lead to trouble now or down the line, which is why being in the thick of our feelings, no matter how scary it seems, is really the best thing we can do for ourselves."
There are a lot of reasons we don't allow ourselves to feel what we feel. Some of the excuses we might have are: - I'm too busy.
- It hurts too much to feel badly.
- It's uncomfortable to deal with what I'm feeling.
- I might have to admit I'm wrong about something.
- I'm stubborn.
- It's no big deal.
- Or my personal favorite: I'm strong, I can deal with it—which means not dealing with "it" at all.
What I've been learning a lot lately is I can get over whatever is bothering me so much quicker when I sit in my (I want to say sh*t because it rhymes but that's a swear word so I'll just say ...) crap.
One of the reasons we suppress what we're feeling or push it aside is we live within a society that doesn't support emotional awareness. We're pretty much taught it's not okay to express how we feel. We might be perceived as weak or—heaven forbid—"emotional."
Here's the rub in all of this—we are emotional beings. What happens when we ignore this is we lose the ability to process what comes up for us when it comes up. Hold stuff in long enough and it all starts to look like a pressure cooker.
If we would allow ourselves to feel our feelings as they came up, they'd come and go more quickly. Instead we're storing them up like emotional hoarders and creating a life of discomfort and discontentment. And then we wonder why we're so unhappy.
On top of all that, physical illness is often the result of mental/emotional stress. Like an upset stomach. It can usually be linked to an emotional upset.
Tuning in to how you feel not only improves overall well being, it's your super power. We have a world of wisdom within us and the more we listen the easier our life will get. Here's to living a life of ease!
Best of health,
Kat Ogar, AADP, CIHC Certified Health & Wellness Coach |
