Many people face issues with anxiety. It’s basically an overload of emotions. If we have too many difficult emotions running in the background we can become prone to anxiety, depression, and other mood issues. So how do we heal anxiety?
By feeling our emotions we prevent the buildup of emotional baggage. By learning to face our emotions not only are we more healthy, we also become happier and begin to benefit from the wisdom such emotions have to offer.
Understanding the problem
When a difficult emotion arises, say anger, we often will feel it for just a moment then immediately try to escape it. Doing something different, distracting ourselves, thinking about something else, or somehow pushing the emotion away. However not many people know that doing this has consequences. Yes, the emotion eventually seems to subside. But where did it go? Is it really gone? What has actually happened is it has moved out of our conscious mind and we are now experiencing it subconsciously. Left unprocessed, this becomes what is known as emotional baggage. Too much emotional baggage eventually becomes mood disorders such as anxiety, depression, and so on.
What can we do about it?
Now that we are aware of the problem, what can we do differently? Here are some tools we can use to become more equipped to deal with difficult emotions.
Notice your reactions – By noticing when you become reactive you can remain conscious enough to process the emotion and become aware of your triggers.
What am I feeling? – By asking yourself this question, you begin to understand what it is you are feeling.
Remain centered – Being centered prevents us from being overcome by whatever it is we are feeling. See 7 Directions
Allow – By allowing the emotion we become ready to process it.
Observing – When we observe our emotion with a mindful awareness it begins to shift
Practice
This practice is designed to enable us to gradually free ourselves from any emotional baggage we are holding onto.
Take a few breaths and center yourself
Pick an emotion that is coming up for you – It may be beneficial to start small
Slowly begin to feel it without judging it or being overcome by it.
Hold this awareness for awhile. Depending on the intensity of the emotion it may take only a few moments or it may take longer. While it is expected to be a little uncomfortable at first you will begin to feel better quickly.
Notice what you notice. There is much wisdom to be found in these emotions when we finally face them.
Work your way up to being able to feel the more intense emotions.
The goal is to get to a point where you are comfortable feeling your emotions as they come up in each moment of life. This prevents you from taking on any new baggage, and increases your emotional capacity.