Feeling Emotions Deeply

I don’t know where to begin today, so many thoughts; so many ideas, unsure are any of them actually with substance or simply fleeting.

If 10 days of silent meditation at a Vipassana retreat taught me anything as someone who is obsessed and dependant on writing everything down, it is that the important thoughts will stick around, if you can manage to simply sit, choosing the act of being. It is the mental clutter and turbulence that keep us from connecting to our divine forces. I believe the insights we seek are already within, waiting to be unlocked.

I felt emotions so deeply and mistakenly, labelled myself as emotionally weak, even possibly depressed. I am neither. When I get in that headspace it is easy to fall into a whirl of repetitive yet overwhelming thoughts, as I try to think my way out of it and determine why. Why me? Why do I feel this way?

Stop Numbing. Start Living.

*Trigger Warning – Discussing addiction to various things.

We were all placed on this earth for a reason. Some to be a parent, others to set up a not for profit to help those living without a home or with a chronic illness, others to write fantasy novels bringing people joy or self development books. Along the way we lose ourselves and through the obstacles and trials we turn towards methods of numbing ourselves, a means of escapism, taking us off our path to connecting with and becoming our higher selves.

How do we numb ourselves? Everyone uses different methods over a lifetime so I’ll be honest and talk about my own journey.

Stressed?

Anxiety & stress arises within. It can feel like you are going to feel this way forever. A heavy burden making everything in life more difficult. Well it’s here now, time to take action!

Practice a variety of techniques until you find what suits you and then repeat those actions and trust that you will wake up one day soon and that tension, headache or even hollow feeling will have dissipated.

Here’s what I did this week to overcome my stress related symptoms with the top 5 being the most crucial in my progress towards feeling good again and the rest in no particular order:

1. Hide phone (even better if you can turn it off) – BIGGEST IMPACT ON MY EMOTIONAL HEALTH! *Phone addiction is real!!

2. Shower daily, if possible! Even run yourself a bath. Think fresh & frisky like a hyperactive puppy after a wash 😉

3. Pick up healthy ready meals so your diet stays good while you lack the capacity to cook. I found cans of lentil soup (bought 6 🙂 and vegetable biryani. Delish! Even, a watermelon or pre-made salads.

4. After days of resistance I’ve attempted a work out a day such as a 15 minute core workout by Madfit. Find here: https://bit.ly/3cy3sOi or a super funny dance workout. One you hope nobody sees you doing but will make you smile A LOT. Find here: https://bit.ly/3gbJgUP Aiming to stick to my habit of at least 5 minute a day.

5. Watch Life is Beautiful (La vita è bella) and the recordings of when they won best foreign film at the Oscars. It brought me back into my body, wow. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must!! Watch in Italian with subtitles.

Some other practices I did that brought me back to joy.

• After an unbearable amount of resistance I prepared more for a college pitch. Stress builds up from lack of preparation. Sit down with the intention of writing/studying 1 paragraph or even 1 line when you get stuck in resistance.