Waves Of Emotion

Do you sometimes get overwhelmed with emotions like fear, grief or anger that just won’t go away?

Changing your perception about the nature of emotions may just help!

I’ve been watching Alfie – my toddler grandson – his face tells it all! One minute he’s upset because he fell, his face crumpling into a frown of frustration which he expresses as a cry. The next minute his face smoothes out into a smile as he lets that go, gets up and on with his game as if nothing had happened.

It’s as if the frustration of the fall goes through him like a wave – he notices it, experiences and expresses it, then it’s gone. A clean slate to move on.

Unfortunately at some point we unlearned the toddler’s healthy attitude to emotions, and started to deny them by pushing them aside. We may have learned it was inappropriate to express our emotions, or become increasingly afraid of an emotion we repeatedly denied.

Emotions that aren’t welcomed and dealt with get stored up in the body as ‘molecules of emotion’, potentially leading to all sorts of health problems.

So, what can you do to restore a healthy attitude to your emotions?

Review your perspective

• See your emotion as a wave of energy – that passes through you

Inspire yourself by watching this happen with an infant.

• Be aware your emotion is not you

Your emotion is simply energy you’re experiencing – e-motion – energy in motion!

• Release any fear you have of experiencing your emotion

Ever found a job you’ve been putting off doesn’t turn out to be so bad when you actually do it?  Well it can be the same with experiencing an emotion.

On the go

• Welcome the emotion

Acknowledge the emotion, and allow it to be present.

• Experience the emotion

Allow yourself to experience the emotion, while it may be unpleasant, like the wave it won’t last for long. Remember to breathe to help the energy of the emotion to move!

• Let it pass through

Allow the emotion to go of its own accord; like the wave it dissipates naturally.

Like most changes, experiencing your emotions as waves gets easier with practice! Whenever you remember, try it today.