How to uncover the treasure of your feelings
Whenever we experience a strong emotion, the goal is to simply feel it. Doing so will give the emotion chance to settle and to loosen its grip, allowing us to uncover the message that feeling carries.
Whenever we experience a strong emotion, the goal is to simply feel it. Doing so will give the emotion chance to settle and to loosen its grip, allowing us to uncover the message that feeling carries for us.
Read on to find out ways to uncover these precious messages.
Awareness: the most essential element
Of paramount importance is an awareness of what’s happening inside us. Our first task is to direct our attention to the emotion. What do we feel? Where do we feel it? What types of stories, images, and metaphors arise that are tied to that emotion? It’s vital to cultivate a non-judgmental stance. If we judge our feelings or try to avoid them because we think they’re unpleasant, they are likely to grow stronger. However, if we accept them as they are, they will transform and fade away much more easily.
Writing: a way to learn
There are always many stories and images related to one emotion. Sensing those stories and writing them down helps us to disentangle ourselves from them and realize their true nature: they are just fiction, stories we tell ourselves, which we can re-write or simply let go.
Acceptance: the invitation to change
Our strong emotions not only tell us something about ourselves; they are also an invitation to a deep transformation. One way to deal with them is to accept that invitation and allow them to change us. That’s very different from acting on them. So, if you feel great anger, accepting the invitation doesn’t mean indulging the rage and being furious. That’s outward orientated. It means turning inward and letting that emotion transform your self.
Asking: your self is the experienced guide
Whatever emotion arises, there is always one source you can turn to: your self, your expression of the infinite intelligence we are embedded in. Simply ask what to do, wait patiently for the answer, and then act. The more you practice communicating with your self, the stronger that communication will be and the more support you can gain from that powerful source.
If you want to read further:
How to cross the threshold into agency and encounter unfamiliar ground.