There are different ways we can handle our feelings.
We can Resist them,
Judge them, (good/bad right/wrong).
Indulge them,
or Ignore them.
OR we can FEEL them.
At their root feelings are simply energies. The word “e-motion” = energy in motion.
Most of us didn’t learn the skill of feeling our feelings. It’s common to avoid them altogether and instead blame and complain, or eat, drink, overwork, overthink, exercise, or shop.
For the best quality of life, ideally we get the courage to feel and process our emotions.
But how exactly?
Experts say “allow them”. Allow them into your attention with keen awareness on your breath and body throughout the day.
With your attention focused on the sensations in your body, you can witness them with curiosity.
The sensations can include contraction of muscles, a tightness in your jaw, flutter in your belly, clenching of teeth, furrowing of the brow, a spread of lightness or flutter across your stomach or chest.
It takes practice, to pay attention to what is happening in the body.
This is how we increase our emotional connection, and open up to feelings as they arise.
We don’t even need to label them.
We observe and allow.
They move through, they come and they go, like a burst of energy in a tropical storm.
Sensations in your body.
This is a skill that we can practice.