You are 5 minutes away to feeling better!
Have you ever had an emotion come up on you and you don’t want to feel it?
Quite often it’s an emotion like worry or anxiety or scared. These are uncomfortable emotions and nobody likes to feel them.
We often turn to an outside source to avoid the emotion.
I like to distract myself with online shopping. I have so many carts full of things I am going to buy just because I was feeling a negative emotion and was trying to avoid it and it gives me a small dopamine hit that tricks my brain into thinking that it makes me feel better.
The problem is, is that emotion will still keep coming up and sometime even more intense.
Instead we should try and process that emotion.
I even know I should be doing this. It is one of the first things I teach a new client and it something that we focus on throughout my whole program.
So why do I keep turning to my online shopping?
It’s simply because processing emotion is not easy. It takes some time to do it. We have to think about it and be intentional in what we are doing.
It is certainly easier to pick up my phone and just start shopping, but it doesn’t last. That is why I have so many carts full of stuff to buy.
I am going to tell you the process I use with my clients and it will only take 5 minutes.
And I think it will feel a lot better for a longer period of time then whatever you use to avoid the emotion.
1. First I want you to name the emotion. Say to yourself, “This is Just Anxiety”
2. Acknowledge that you are going to feel it for awhile. “I am just going to feel Anxiety for a little while here and that is OK”
3. Where do you feel it in your body?
4. What is the temperature of your body? Hot or Cold?
5. What is the color of the feeing or emotion?
6. Is the feeling hard or soft?
7. Is this feeling fast or slow?
8. How does this feeling make you want to react?
9. Why are you feeling this feeling?
If we can stop fighting against the negative emotion and learn to allow it within ourselves, it can pass through us so much faster. I can’t say that it won’t come back. It probably will, but hopefully less intense as we get better and better at processing the negative emotion.
So next time you are feeling any kind of negative emotion try this process. I think you will be surprised by the results.
If you or someone you know and love are ready to get a handle on your negative emotion, including anxiety, I can help.
Click below to book a consultation with me to learn how!