FEEL your feelings
When we are dealing with chronic symptoms or symptoms that have no physical structural origin, we are likely dealing with stress or emotional symptoms in the body. The approach to treating these symptoms is different than if we are treating let’s say a fracture or acute physical injury. We want to approach stress or emotional symptoms from the premise that emotional feelings are not to be stopped or fixed. They should instead be felt to process them. The saying ‘feel your feelings’ rings true here.
However, the problem to doing this is two-fold for many. For starters, many people believe that all symptoms in the body are only physical, so they won’t even think about emotions. Therefore they will be looking to fix or stop the symptom from a physical treatment standpoint. Second, even if people start thinking emotional, many people have difficulty opening up to their feelings and feeling them. Human tendency is to shut down (resist) or react to uncomfortable feelings. Meaning the last thing we want to do is feel these painful, uncomfortable feelings (symptoms). We only want to feel ‘good’ feelings so we try to stop, avoid, push down, numb over, or distract ourselves from these painful feelings. It doesn’t really work when the symptoms are emotional. Feelings are meant to be felt. That’s why they are called FEEL-ings, it’s something we want to feel through till it subsides.
All emotions are Ok- there is no such thing as a bad emotion. That’s why when you get a diagnosis of TMS or PPD there is nothing wrong with you. I work with people to get in touch with their symptoms and see them and treat them as feelings or emotions in their bodies. Working from that premise, we start to accept and allow these feelings to move through us instead of trying to fix or stop them.
If you are interested in learning how to do this or deepen your practice of this, feel free to join my weekly somatic practice group. We meet on Wednesdays mornings California time at 8:30am- 10am. The sessions are recorded so you will be sent a copy of the recording if you cannot make it. Head over to my website to learn more and to sign up.
