How to: Release stuck emotions
Happy Wednesday!
You know when something upsetting happens and then you just scoot about your day/life, but then that moment keeps flashing in your mind like a little perpetual-motion-re-triggering machine??
You've probably got a trapped emotion. Meaning, the emotion wasn't fully processed in the moment AND you didn't get the message it was trying to send you.
Having a lot of trapped emotions is like having a lot of clutter in your house. Life starts to feel heavy and blocked. We have trouble navigating forward. We start to feel overwhelmed/trapped, etc.
Also, emotions are messengers. They tell us when a boundary of ours has been crossed. They show us what we value and stand for. What our truth is.
Our tendency is to shut down or swallow painful emotions when they come up, but we should be mining them for their valuable information about what we need and how to live.
Below is my go-to process on finding and releasing trapped emotions. The more you take yourself through this process, the lighter you will feel and the better you will know yourself and what's best for you! Happy mining!
6 Steps to Releasing Trapped Emotions:
Start by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Recall a recent event that was upsetting or distressing to you (a 6-7 on a scale from 1-10). Bring that memory to life in your mind - where were you, who was there, what was happening? When you feel well immersed in the memory, ask yourself the following questions:
1) What was the primary emotion you were feeling?
2) What was causing you to feel that emotion?
3) Focus on the emotion and allow it to be there. Where can you feel it in your body? What would it feel like to expand the emotion even more? Feel the emotion totally for 90 seconds (the average time it takes to biologically process an emotion).
4) Ask yourself, what needed to happen (that you had control over) that maybe didn’t happen in that situation?
5) What can you forgive yourself for or let yourself off the hook for, from that experience?
6) If that emotion has a message for you, what message would the emotion share with you today?
xo,
Jessica
