We have all been facing a difficult time in our lives right now. We haven't had a "normal" day in over a month!! Because life is not normal right now, we may be feeling some more intense emotions. I have recently had a few students that asked me if the stress they were feeling is harmful. The short answer is no, we are no doubt in a stressful time, but we are all in this together and eventually we will be back in school together. Even though having stressful feelings is uncomfortable, it is normal right now. Sometimes our big emotions can be confusing. For example, if you are feeling a lot of anger then there may be many other emotions underneath that anger. Here is an infographic that explains more: I am feeling uncomfortable with my big emotions right now, what do I do?Here is the tough part...any one of the above emotions can be really unpleasant. They can cause suffering and uncomfortable feelings in our bodies. We often want to push those feelings away. Unfortunately, the more we push those feelings away, the more likely they are to erupt like a volcano out later on. And THAT is a really unpleasant feeling let me tell you from my own experience. It can damage your relationships, and can be damaging to you in many other ways. The image below shows us how the emotion volcano works: So how do I avoid the emotion volcano?There is good news and bad news. The good news is that you don't have to feel like an exploding volcano ever. The bad news is that means you need to feel your feelings as they come to you. What does that mean? If you resist your feelings, then they get pushed down in your body. But if you feel your feelings as they come to you they are released. They may feel uncomfortable in the moment, but like a thunder storm they will come and go. One way to think about feeling your feelings in the moment is to think of it like a thunder storm. It can be scary and unpleasant for awhile, but eventually the storm goes, and you don't feel the same intensity of emotions. Have you ever had a good cry and felt kinda better afterwords? By letting yourself cry, you are letting the storm come and go. What happens after a storm? Usually the sun comes out, the birds sing and life goes on business as usual! Letting the storms of your emotions come and go is the least harmful way of dealing with the stress in your life. Calm Your StormsAfter you have let the storm of your emotions pass, take a few minutes to breath and relax. Here is a calming video that includes a relaxing rain shower you can try. Just sit comfortably, close your eyes and listen to the sounds, notice what sounds you hear and make note of them:
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May 2020
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