From the previous article on Psychic Numbness, we referenced the words of psychiatrist F. J. Braceland, that sorrow which has no vent in tears may make other organs weep. Further, knowing that silencing our emotions poisons the soul, it is of paramount importance to get on the path to awakening our long forgotten sense expressing our feelings, and heal the damaged parts of us that get in the way of expressing our emotions without too much vulnerability, shame, fear and guilt. In invite you, dear reader, to this short journey of awakening our e-motions
The mind, just like the body possess its internal mechanisms of self-repair. However, unlike the body which for example clots blood and heals a physical wound without ones active involvement, the minds self-repairing powers have to be allowed to work, to awaken us to higher levels of expression and experience of living FULLY, JOYFULLY and AUTHENTICALLY!
According to Tori Amos, “Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.” Here are a four ideas to begin to sweep away the darkness, burn away the chaff, and let the light of your inner divinity shine!
- Raise your level of awareness: Begin to notice the little things that cause you to retract like a tortoise into a shell, and adapt mechanism from past conditioning to protect you from perceived real, or imagined harm. Begin to notice the triggers that cause you to shut down emotionally, recoil and crawl into a dark hole, and want to remain there forever.
- Face the facts: On the one side, ask yourself, and candidly answer the questions to why certain things trigger you the way they do, why criticism shuts you down, why you crave for attention and cocoon when you don’t get it. Is it from childhood trauma, adolescent incidences, and family background? Relationship betrayals? On the other hand, and equally important, healing also means taking an honest look at the role you play in your own suffering. Can you drop the need to be needed? Can you quit pleasing and put that energy into developing you? Is it a feeling of not being enough? Low esteem? REMEMBER: respecting reality, and acknowledging the truth of your emotional state, and being able to nonjudgmentally observe and define your current emotional state, without necessarily wanting to change it, is a great place to begin the healing process, for indeed, ONLY THE TRUTH SETS FREE INDEED.
- Desire to heal: Nothing summarises this point than Lindsay Wagner’s quotes; “I’ve experienced several different healing methodologies over the years – counseling, self-help seminars, and I’ve read a lot – but none of them will work unless you really want to heal.” I need not add a word.
- Driven only be the desire to heal, and not seeking attention and pity, find a safe space to share your struggles, fears, and anxieties. Expose those inner dark states and watch them lose the grip and power they enjoy in the little dark secret cocoons they live in, well tucked to away from the public eye. What you cannot reveal, you cannot heal, so yes, WHAT YOU CAN REVEAL (in a safe space) YOU BEGIN TO HEAL
- Stage a TRANSITION: What is your strategy to work on your inner turmoil and raise to a higher level of consciousness? Those who win are mostly those who have great game plan. Be actively involved. You need to begin a journey of re-parenting yourself; giving yourself the attention, the unconditional love and acceptance, making you a priority, and KNOWING YOU ARE ENOUGH! The tragedy is, if you don’t begin this journey to healing, you will keep on bleeding on people who didn’t hurt you, and that is not a good place to be.