We spend so much time managing our schedules, tending to our relationships, and pushing through our to-do lists that we often bypass our feelings.
Most of us were never taught how to truly sit with our emotions. Instead, we learned to push them aside, analyze them, or drown them out with distraction. But what if the secret to emotional ease isn’t about controlling our feelings but about welcoming them?
Rupert Spira captures this beautifully:
“The only thing our intense feelings cannot really stand is being completely welcomed. They thrive on our resistance to them. Devoid of that resistance, they can’t stand for long.”
Think about the last time you felt overwhelmed, anxious, or hurt.
Did you try to push the feeling away? Did you distract yourself with work, a screen, or a scroll?
The paradox of emotions is that the more we resist them, the more they persist. But when we turn toward them with curiosity—when we simply allow them to be—they begin to shift on their own.
Tending to your feelings doesn’t mean indulging them or getting lost in them. It means acknowledging them as they are, without judgment. A wise friend shared with me what she does in the moment to sit with difficult or overwhelming emotions. Here’s her recipe:
Find It
Where does this feeling live? Is it tightness in your chest? A heaviness in your stomach?
Feel It
Breathe into that space and allow it to be felt fully.
Free It
Rather than pushing the feeling away, imagine opening the door to it. Let it be there without needing to change it. Often, just the act of acknowledgment is enough to soften its grip.
Emotions naturally rise and fall when given the space to do so. Trust that they will move through you, just as waves come and go.
The more we welcome our feelings, the less they have to fight for our attention. Instead of running from them, we meet them with openness—and in doing so, we free ourselves.
So today, take a moment. Pause. Notice what’s stirring inside you. And instead of turning away, turn toward it. Your feelings are not here to harm you; they are here to be seen, felt, and finally, released.
Comments