To feel is to heal

I’m an advocate for feeling our feelings as they arise, although often we can’t express those feelings as they occur.  It is important to our well being to be able to acknowledge what we are feeling, to embrace and then release those feelings so that the unconscious emotions don’t get stuck in our psyches and bodies.  There is a school of thought that informs that:  what is held in consciousness is manifested or shows up in the physical body and can be released by changing the erroneous thoughts or beliefs that created them.  Louise L. Hay, author and publisher, in her book:  Heal your body, lists about every malady known to mankind, the probable pattern of belief that is the cause, and lists a specific affirmation for each ailment,  to hold in consciousness to remedy or release the dis-ease.  For example: “Problem:  Abscess; cause: fermenting thoughts over hurts, slights and revenge; new thought pattern to use:  I allow my thoughts to be free. The past is over. I am at peace”.
An old friend of mine, Cynthia Herman, author of: Sound, Movement and Tears, writes that “Sound, movement and tears is the body’s natural reaction to pain. Emotions are not just mental choices, but there is a physical change in our cells. And if we don’t restore the balance of the cell through sound, movement and tears, it will remain at a slower rate of vibration, contributing to overweight and all our diseases. E-motion is energy in motion”.  She also says that “most rage, aggression, and acting out are a mask for forbidden tears. Sound and tears are the most transformative”  Many of us were raised to believe that any negative emotions were wrong and that we would be in trouble with our parents or they would withhold their love from us if we displayed them.  We were taught that negative emotions were bad and so we learned to repress them and depress ourselves.  Cindy explains that “Negative events happen as opportunities to release emotion; to feel is to heal”.
She lists 4 steps to healing trauma: 1 . Never throw your anger at people;(this is wounding, and we can work it out better when alone,  2 . Don’t intellectualize your feelings –feel them.  3.  Connect with your higher power (ask your higher self for help); and  4.  Breathe deeply; it allows the feelings to surface.  “Shallow breathing is a habit we’ve developed to keep our emotions repressed”.
She advises, “‘When your child is crying, don’t devalue it if it isn’t logical”.  Allow the emotion and comfort them; “this is teaching empathy”.   Tell them it’s alright to be scared; that sometimes you’re scared too . “To admit is to open a door — to not admit is to keep it closed.  Admit your own hidden darkness and open the door to the light”.
I recently heard a story about a Vietnam Vet, who went from the battlefield, was flown home, and within 24 hours was experiencing a totally different paradigm, where the fear, anxiety, and whatever else he felt, was no longer acceptable to express . This happens to many soldiers! That’s called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Years later he and his wife traveled to see the Vietnam War Wall of names, where he read the names of those in his company who had died.  He fell to the ground, sobbing, and could not quit crying for hours.  He was no doubt perplexed about why he could not control his emotions, but he had decades of stopped up tears to release .  When our emotions are released from our cells, healing occurs.  I’m sure chopping wood was a good way to release sound and movement, back in the day.  Today we join the local gym, which is great, but going out in nature is healing also . There are techniques outlined in Cindy’s book and other good books for transforming these immobilizing emotions.  Feelings are how we evolve and learn, and heal.
Psychologist, Gay Hendricks, wrote in his book: Learning to Love Yourself, that he came to the realization that “feelings cannot be talked away, they can only be felt away.  Our brains intellectualize; I don’t want to be a cry baby; I’ll be strong and not feel this.  Logic won’t erase our pain; feeling it out will”.                                                                                                                        Sandra Ingerman, therapist and shaman practitioner, in her book:  How to Heal Toxic Thoughts, Simple Tools for Personal Transformation, teaches us how to deal with our fear, anger and frustrations.  Like an alchemist, she tells us “how to turn a heavy-leaded consciousness into a light-hearted, golden consciousness”.   She talks about how to protect ourselves in a toxic world and gives tools for transformatiion .  She has an interesting chapter on: The Nature of Projections, in which she writes: “We tend to blame others for our feelings, thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs. We also tend to idolize others without acknowledging that we have the same gifts and talents within, though we might express them differently in the world.  When we are able to acknowledge our projections and experience parts of ourselves that are hidden, we stop sending so much of our energy to others. We embrace these parts are carried within us. And as human beings we are here to learn, grow, and evolve.  We are here to learn how to sculpt the deeply hidden parts of ourselves into a work of beauty, love, and light”.  To view her monthly column the book gives this website:  www.sandraingerman.com  These readings helped me to move through some heavy emotions this week, which I continue to work on, and might discuss in my next post.  May we all “admit our own hidden darkness and open the door to the light” for healing!