How often have you been told not to cry, that anger is dangerous and feelings should be kept to ourselves and not expressed? In order to move along our path of healing, of becoming better humans to ourselves and others, we need to feel our emotions. All of them. Period.
An emotion is simply - energy in motion. Energy that can either be stored in our bodies, where it lays stagnant, causing many issues for the body, mind and spirit. Or the emotional energy can be released, through modalities such as Reiki, and at home with a self practice.
Naming desires, feelings, fears, expectations and intentions allows emotions to simply lose their power.
If we block our emotions, we can in turn block our feelings, especially our painful ones. This can result in us depriving ourselves of pleasure also. We can only feel the heights of pleasure as equally as we hold space for our pain. Meaning, to experience true joy and freedom in life, we need to allow, release and surrender to our emotions, the pleasurable AND the painful ones.
We need to name it in order to tame it. We need to feel it so we can heal it.
Here is a useful process to follow at home when you feel yourself having an emotion arise in you:
1. Become an observer of your emotions. Name the emotion you are feeling. Perhaps I feel sad, angry, embarrassed, shy. Name it to take its power away. View these with curiosity.
2. Reassure yourself that it is totally OK to feel this way. We are all human, and being human means we have strong emotions that will come up at times.
3. If you are not feeling excessively emotionally charged, journal whatever the situation was that caused this emotion to arise. Blurt out every thing you wanted to say and do in that moment (perhaps you wanted to scream the house down at someone!) and get it all out onto paper.
4. Move your body! Whether that’s putting on your fav song and shaking your booty, or singing at the top of your lungs. Or you may prefer to do some sun salutations and stretching.
5. Shake your body. Have you noticed when an animal goes into shock, they may start shaking? This is to release the pent up energy released into their bodies. Literally start shaking every part of your body, and imagine the negative energy being flicked out of your crown, hands and feet.
6. Perhaps you may need to cry, to yell into a pillow to curl up into a ball. If you are feeling angry and have released the emotion through your body, you will find that crying usually follows. The reason for this is, beneath most rage is sadness and grief.
7. If you feel this hasn’t truly released the emotion from your body, you may need to adopt some more intense release techniques. Sophia covers these in her group courses and workshops, and in her 1:1 coaching sessions, as they are quite in depth and require support to ensure they are being used correctly.
8. Once you have finished shaking, moving and releasing the emotion through your body, it is time to give yourself some love, and hold yourself In this space. You might like to repeat out loud, ‘I am safe’, ‘I am supported’, ‘I am loved’ and ‘I am worthy’. Hold your hands to your heart and accept all that you are.
9. Finally, allow yourself the opportunity to calm your nervous system down. This is an important step, so be sure not to skip it! Either lie or sit with a long spine, and take some deep belly breaths in through the nose, and a releasing exhale out through the mouth. I teach specific pranayama (breathing techniques) in my 1:1 sessions for this, which promote deep release and relaxation of the nervous system.
Using this process is a massive gift to you and your future self. Allowing emotion to move through you, instead of pushing It down and away, is a brave and rewarding process. After practising this technique it become second nature, and you can refine and use the parts that work for you! You will become less reactive and more responsive. You will begin to notice your triggers, and work with them, not against them. We ALL have triggers, usually deep rooted from childhood. Learn to move with their ebb and flow.
Now I am a HUGE fan of meditation. It is a wonderful practice that I do daily. However I do not believe it helps us release trauma and emotion. Next time you feel angry, toss aside the meditation cushion, turn on rage against the machine and let it do it's thang. See how much more peaceful you feel after!
Now this technique has worked WONDERS for me as a parent. Asking children to name their big emotions so they can understand them, and then releasing through either play, crying or laughter, is extremely effective for a healthier and happier child-parent relationship. So treat yourself as you would a child, allow emotions to arise, and allow them to move through.
Reiki is an extremely powerful healing technique to kick start this release process, and to move the stagnant energy that has been stored in the tissues for years. Seeing as Reiki is energy healing, it works directly with releasing stagnant and stuck emotions from the energetic system and body tissues. Being in a safe, supportive environment with a Reiki practitioner facilitates deep healing and release. If you'd like a better idea of how Reiki works to release energy and emotions, check out my blog here.
Being able to manage your emotions is so freaking powerful. We are all human, and we all slip up, so don’t beat yourself up if you do! Just pat yourself on the back for being a brave and determined goddess, and giving this all a go! Pathing the way to showing up as the best version of yourself.
So move those bodies ladies, let the tears flow and shed the layers of your former self!
Are you feeling the call to explore and heal your body, emotions and your power? If you would like to be guided further and deeper on this journey, reach out or have a look at my offerings. You deserve it x
Much love,
Sophia x
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