I am continuing my series on Increasing your happiness. Today we will discuss tip #2. If you want to read about tip # 1 check out my post on giving back.
Emotions are powerful things. In our society there are so many things we do to deny, numb, or discredit emotions.
It is essential for a happy life to experience your emotions. I do believe that when you have an emotion come up, bottling it up or ignoring the emotion, is not the best thing for you or your health. When emotions are ignored they will resurface in other ways, such health issues. When you feel sadness or any other undesirable emotion, allow yourself to fully feel the emotion and then let it go.
You may have been denying emotions for so long that the idea of experiencing emotions is foreign, or you are just not sure where to begin. The first step is to stay mentally in your body, pay attention to how you feel throughout the day, stay present. Yes I am referring to mindfulness, staying present. I understand that mindfulness or staying present is easier said than done. I challenge you to try to do this at least once a day to start. Think about what you normally do when you are stressed or triggered. Do you eat? Do you drink? Do you distract yourself with social media? When you are about to engage in your habitual coping behavior, stop and take notice. At that moment ask yourself what you are feeling, then choose to really feel the emotion and then make a conscious effort to let it go. Tell yourself that you are human and it is normal to feel your feelings, whether it is jealousy, anger, shame or any other uncomfortable emotion. It may be uncomfortable for a short time, but it will pass.
If you try to notice your feelings and still find it challenging, you can try to set a timer. Decide on two times during the day that you will set a reminder for yourself to really check into your body to experience how you are feeling. When your reminder goes off, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, then think about what you are feeling. Accept your feelings, acknowledge your humanness and then consciously choose to let it go.
By experiencing your emotions, you are not hiding or distracting yourself from your real life. By experiencing the bad emotions you are also get the have a deeper experience of the joy and happiness in your life because you are connected to yourself and your emotions. You are also able to allow the negative emotions to flow through you and not get stuck in your body.
If you would like to go deeper and learn to get back to yourself, I would love to talk to you, contact me for a complimentary clarity session.
