We must get into the practice of emotional expression and release, allowing ourselves space to truly feel the whole spectrum of emotions so that we can process them, let them go and, as a result, shift our energetic vibration.
This is what we call “emotional diversity” or “emo-diversity”.
Consider for a moment in what ways you might be escaping your own feelings. Can you identify when or how you do this? It may be something obvious, like drinking alcohol or distracting ourselves with food, but sometimes we escape our feelings in much more subtle ways, like being busy, taking on too much work, and making ourselves always available to meet others’ needs. That can also be a form of escape; we subconsciously make ourselves as busy as possible so that we leave no room to be alone and face ourselves.
Why are we so accustomed to hiding, denying, or escaping our feelings?
As children, we are often told that crying and expressing anger is naughty or bad and will be punished. When we are told repeatably that certain emotions must be suppressed in order for us to be perceived as good boys/girls, it’s no wonder that we become so adept at hiding them.
Difficult emotions are challenging to sit with; sometimes it just seems easier to have a couple of glasses of wine with a friend than deal with the pain of your heartbreak. The easy route is not always the right one. We need to feel, explore and sit with our emotions so that we can process them; this is the path that will lead us to a greater sense of peace and contentment.
Toxic positivity that our society promotes doesn’t let us feel our feelings. I have explored that in my article “What Distinguishes Healthy Positivity From Toxic Positivity”. Toxic positivity is the obsession with remaining entirely positive, even during challenging times, and continuously focusing on the need to adopt a positive mindset. It encourages the dismissal of emotional expression for anything other than a positive emotion and the adoption of a facade of positivity even when we are in emotional pain or distress. It stops us from feeling validated and then reinforces a subconscious belief that it's better to keep those low vibrational emotions stored within us.
You may wonder what is the antidote - it’s self-love.
It’s not self-loving to deny ourselves the freedom of emotional expression. It is not self-loving to ignore or dismiss when things feel overwhelming or difficult.
Self-love is giving yourself emotional validation and acceptance, committing to your healing journey, and then remaining hopeful and trusting that on the other side of the darker days there is growth and abundance.
This is how we validate our low-vibe emotions without indulging in them.
"Self-love is giving yourself emotional validation and acceptance, committing to your healing journey, and then remaining hopeful and trusting that on the other side of the darker days there is growth and abundance."
This is how we validate our low-vibe emotions without indulging in them.
When negative feelings and emotions arise, let them in, welcome them, accept them, do not judge them. Give them space to come up so that you can offer yourself the love and compassion you need in that moment to let them go.
Simply observe your emotions with zero judgment; you are not your emotions.
Emotions are the language of your body; listen to what your body is trying to tell you with compassion and curiosity. When was the last time you were curious to observe how an unpleasant emotion feels in your body, what is trying to tell you, what triggered it, and what needs healing within you?
A powerful tip here is to stop saying “ I am sad” for example but replace it with “ I feel sad and it’s ok". Give yourself permission to name the emotion but without becoming that emotion.
Feelings are to be felt. Offer yourself compassion by saying something kind to yourself, by giving yourself the same advice you would offer to your best friend.
Giving ourselves permission to be human, to feel the full spectrum of emotions without judgment, to offer ourselves compassion, and to process what we need to let go of is what really matters.