I think that one of the most important things is to feel how we're feeling in a certain moment and time. So often when we are dealing with a situation or a relationship we brush off how we're feeling. The body holds onto emotions. If you suppress those emotions or feelings, overtime they will manifest and make their way out of the body in the form of physical ailments. It is okay to feel an emotion such as anger or sadness that may be uncomfortable to you. Sadness and anger are just feelings like happiness and excitement. We have a lot to learn from our feelings of discomfort. Sometimes when you are feeling upset about a certain person or situation you are in, wonder why it is happening FOR.... rather than TO you. Take yourself out of the victim role. Every feeling and thought that comes into your body or mind is your choice. You always have the power in the moment to change. I'm not saying that it is easy because I know that it isn't. It takes sitting with your emotions and working through them. Meditating, yoga- especially backbends and sweating, journaling, listening to music, getting outdoors, talking and sharing these feelings with friends or family are some great ways to be with and work the emotions out of your body. Accepting your feelings is the FIRST step. My friend Mary and I took a trip to the spring yesterday and she was telling me about a yoga and life coaching event she went to in Maine this past weekend. Her friend leading the workshop talks about ways to get started with CHANGE. She had been trying to lose a certain amount of weight for a filming of a video. She told herself she would run every day for an hour M-F. Of course she started to lessen the time that she would run and then the days that she would run and eventually she wasn't even really running. Mary made a good point. Why- when we want to change something in our lives- do we create such a big challenge for ourselves? Change starts with ONE step. Putting on the running shoes. Even if she didn't go running, her friend would at least have had her shoes on. The next thought that comes to mind? "Well, if I have my shoes on..... I might as well go." Next step.... I am going to run to the end of the street and back. Next step after that..... if I am already running to the end of the street, I might as well run through the block, so on and so forth.
Getting back to emotions. It can seem so daunting if you are feeling sad or upset or angry about something to think, "I am a bad person for feeling this way, I better stop." That will never work because you're not allowing yourself to feel that way or understand why you're feeling that way. FIRST step is accepting your emotions. WHY are you feeling the way you're feeling? Next, validate that feeling. Tell yourself it is okay to feel that way. When we grow up we are taught that we shouldn't be angry or sad- that it is a sign of weakness. If we are judging ourselves based on how we feel our body can never change, heal, grow or evolve. We would always be stuck in the same place and never go anywhere. The body only moves from a place of love and acceptance. Once you can love yourself and accept your feelings then, only, can you start to work through them and move beyond them.
We feel things for a reason- sometimes we know the reason and sometimes we don't. Sometimes it isn't necessary to figure out why we're feeling a certain way because we will figure it out at the time we're supposed to. Just keep breathing. Feel your feelings. Feel your feelings rather than suppressing them, filling them with food or a stimulant or a depressant. Talk about them, yell, scream, go for a run, meditate, hike, be with nature, be with yourself and people you love. Root your mind and body together. Happiness always starts within. Take the first steps today to actually feeling how you FEEL. If you want to change those feelings, you will slowly do it over time. YOU can do it and YOU always have the power.
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