Arleen Hannich, MA |
Spiritual Facilitator |
 |
The Divine ConnectionA Collection of Articles by Arleen HannichAHannich@bellsouth.net / (919) 460-3028 / www.ArleenHannich.com |
Do You Analyze Your Emotions?
In the last two issues, we explored the importance of feeling your emotions and common reasons why most people choose not to feel them. Today we'll talk about some of the difficulties you may face as you begin to feel your feelings.
Let the Divine Help You
After I returned from my 21-day process at the Oneness University, I made an effort to feel my feelings. Believe me, I was always asking the Divine for help(!), because even though I could feel my emotions at a surface level (still largely at a mental level), I knew I was not getting to the core.
The first time I asked for the Divine's help AND physically felt Divine Presence with me, I can't tell you how happy I was! A mental concept had become real in my life. (It took awhile before I could actually FEEL Divine Presence with me--before that I had to rely on hope and faith.) But even better was the first time I felt my feelings, did NOT ask for Divine help (just hadn't gotten to that point yet), AND physically felt Divine Presence with me anyway. How incredible it was to be supported in this way! This support is also here for you!
Feeling Your Emotions
Most people simply do not feel safe feeling their emotions. But in fact, we are safe to do so. The experience is rarely as painful as our mind would have us believe, and it is rarely as painful as living with pain that has been buried for years or even decades.
In the beginning when you decide to actually feel your emotions, you may be faced with fear, anger, grief, or any other emotion you really do not want to experience. You will be faced with those emotions that you have been stuffing for years. Know up front that you are up to this challenge, and decide to treat yourself with love and compassion throughout the process.
When you begin to feel a difficult emotion, let go of any struggle and resistance and be as relaxed with it as possible. You may feel physical sensations arise. If so, simply breathe into them and allow them to unfold. If your feelings take you back to a childhood situation, go there and experience it as a child, rather than from your current age. Feel it; don't analyze it!
If at some point you feel stuck, or you feel like you need some help, breathe deeply and slowly, and ask the Divine to help you experience the emotion fully. Do not feel your feelings with the intention of "fixing" yourself or changing the feeling. Experiencing the feeling fully will automatically bring transformation.
Oh, That Wonderful Mind
A word of warning--as you begin to really experience your feelings, your mind will want to get very involved! As wonderfully useful as our minds are in external life, when it comes to difficult feelings, our minds can only help us run away from or "manage" them. The mind may help us feel soothed in the moment, but the pain will then remain as a "charge" in our system, and we will wind up paying for it in the future.
Don't be surprised if your mind tries several different ploys to keep you from truly experiencing your feelings. Just be aware of your mind's efforts--there is no need to get involved with it.
Your mind may:
* Tell you to talk with someone, eat, drink, watch TV, read a book, etc. These activities are very common forms of running away from your feelings.
* Focus on a "perpetrator" in the situation, so you have someone to blame--whether that be yourself or someone else.
* Tell you stories from the past, explaining why you are in so much pain right now. These stories may feel productive and insightful, yet they are simply your mind's efforts to keep you in your head and distract you from feeling your feelings. The content of the story is not important. Continue to focus on how you feel.
* Insist you identify each feeling and determine its source. (You don't need to do either!)
* Provide you with endless questions or distractions that take you away from the present feeling, so you don't focus on it.
* Suggest you should imagine yourself feeling better. When you are feeling desolation or guilt, you cannot imagine joy. If instead of feeling your painful feelings, you begin to imagine other, more pleasant feelings, you are simply trying to escape once again.
* (Insert your mind's favorite ploy here.)
Be Patient. Be Kind.
Remember, do your best to stay with the feeling. For charges to go away, you need to re-experience the feelings associated with them. To try and change them only increases the charge. Please be patient and kind to yourself throughout this process--you are up against a huge amount of human conditioning!
