Have you been feeling more intense emotions this year? It seems many people are experiencing this, myself included. I’ve noticed that I’ve been experiencing a wider range of emotions, with greater intensity. As collective consciousness expands, it could be that more people are experiencing emotional healing and cleansing, even at a deep cellular level where we have received generations of certain imprints of emotions, such as fear, shame and guilt. The more awareness we have, the more garbage comes up in order to be released. It can feel like you’re taking 2 steps forward, and 5 steps back. It’s a painful process, but needs to happen. It creates more space for our soul to come through on the physical plane, where we can manifest our spiritual potential here on Earth, creating “Heaven on Earth.”
We’re being made to integrate our higher self with our lower self, our masculine with our feminine, to come into greater balance, it seems, to be who we really are. As I notice greater tensions rising in the world, from gun violence to uprisings to small miscommunications between friends that cause inner strife, it makes me wonder if it’s all about emotional repression. If we could find a way to feel our true feelings, and have emotional health, how would things shift? It also makes me wonder where this lack of permission for emotional expression comes from.
The other day while I was swimming at a nearby lake, I saw something of a common occurrence: a little girl, about 4, screaming at the top of her lungs. She was in her mother’s arms, bawling. Her mom was red with anger. She had it with her daughter’s screaming. She was scolding her for crying, shaking her finger in front of her daughter’s face and threatening her in a low hushed tone “if you don’t, .. then..!^#^%!%@” They were in public and her mother didn’t want her daughter to be a nuisance.
Perhaps this is where it all starts: a lack of permission to express our negative emotions. We learn at a young age that it’s not at all appropriate to have a temper tantrum. Get angry.. how about some rage? “NO! Don’t act that way. Play nice, and share your toys!” Parents try to encourage good behavior, with good intentions, but what happens then under the surface, when children are not allowed to have their true feelings? Recently my friend’s 10- year old son, Drew, said he learned how to shut off his emotions because he was getting bullied at school for crying. At a tender age we’re often conditioned to reject and make wrong what we feel, even feel shameful for what we feel – and this is where the inner tension begins.
As adults, rarely do we want to admit to each other that we’re having a horrible time. Instead, we choose to repress and hide. “I’m fine” we say with a casual smile. It’s easier to say that than to talk about what’s eating us up inside. So we put on a happy face and get busy doing stuff. We immerse ourselves in a constant state of distraction. We do anything but feel our negative emotions.
Shame, rage, guilt, sadness, frustration, anger. What place do these emotions have in our lives? How do we deal with dark emotions without getting engulfed in them?
If we do not deal with our negative emotions, they can end up revealing themselves in horrible ways: violence, addictions, even low-grade depression and stress. You might notice your loved one having an extra drink, or checking out in front of the TV. It takes energy to deal with hard emotions. But learning how to deal with difficult emotions is essential to our health. Emotional health affects every aspect of our life, including our relationships, vitality and productivity. Unfortunately, there is no formula or graceful way for dealing with difficult emotions. Emotions are like tides of wave that eventually subside with time, but rise again and sometimes unexpectedly.
Learning how to flow with them without being undertowed by them is key to navigating through torrential waters. This meditative GPS guide provides guidance for helping you move through deeper, darker feelings. It’s 5 minutes and provides tools for dealing with difficult emotions. And it’s easy on the eyes!
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