Emotions as guides
As a therapist I bear witness to many strong emotions. Stories of grief, abandondment, unrealized dreams, deep sadness, worry, arguing, feelings of inadequacy are all visitors in the therapy office. I feel fortunate to be trusted to share the journey with my clients and I am in awe of the strengths and resilency that come forth to assist in healing.
Emotions can be out guide if we allow them to be. Feelings of grief tell us about some type of loss that needs to be honored and recognized. Worry informs us about what we are afraid of. Feelings of inadequacy show us areas of ourselves that we may be too critical of. Sadness can guide us to find meaning in our lives (difficult task!). Looking at our emotions as visitors (feelings come and go) that can offer us insight and guidance can be invaluable to an examined life. Most emotions have triggers, but you must search and look deeply for what these triggers are. For example, when I start to feel anxious, I first notice the feeling in my stomach, then I identify what the feeling is, and then I ask myself "where did this come from?"- sometimes it is obvious what the trigger is, and sometimes it is not. I can usually identify where the worry feelings came from and then change my thoughts or perceptions to be less fearful to ease the worry. This process works great with worry and anger, but can be too simplistic with feelings of sadness, grief or inadequacy- those feelings often have muliple layers that need to be examined, identified and taken care of.
Til next time, be gentle with yourself and others.
Emotions can be out guide if we allow them to be. Feelings of grief tell us about some type of loss that needs to be honored and recognized. Worry informs us about what we are afraid of. Feelings of inadequacy show us areas of ourselves that we may be too critical of. Sadness can guide us to find meaning in our lives (difficult task!). Looking at our emotions as visitors (feelings come and go) that can offer us insight and guidance can be invaluable to an examined life. Most emotions have triggers, but you must search and look deeply for what these triggers are. For example, when I start to feel anxious, I first notice the feeling in my stomach, then I identify what the feeling is, and then I ask myself "where did this come from?"- sometimes it is obvious what the trigger is, and sometimes it is not. I can usually identify where the worry feelings came from and then change my thoughts or perceptions to be less fearful to ease the worry. This process works great with worry and anger, but can be too simplistic with feelings of sadness, grief or inadequacy- those feelings often have muliple layers that need to be examined, identified and taken care of.
Til next time, be gentle with yourself and others.
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