Discovering what Sits Beneath Your Feelings and Emotions
“The body never lies!” This is a quote I heard many times from one of my mentors, and it’s so true. The question is what is it telling us?
I use the word Sensations to refer to all the body cues we describe as feelings and emotions. When you say you are angry, frustrated, disappointed, hurt, happy and/or excited, they are all in reference to certain cues in your body. As we grow, we start to pay less attention to the internal cues our body gives us and we begin to pay more attention to external situations to describe how we feel. This is not to say these external situations are false, or how we are describing what is going on inside of us is incorrect. It’s more about all the information we are missing because of where we put our attention.
Feelings and Emotions
When we use the feelings and emotions words, we diminish our curiosity to go beneath the surface of what is happening in the body. This is exactly what our intellect wants. It lives for the story.
Let’s test this out. If you’re willing, think of a situation when you were angry. Now, pay attention to where it sits in your body. Is it in your head, your chest, your back or your stomach? Is it heavy, light, sharp, dull, tingly, hot or cold?
This is where it can get interesting. Rather than framing this sensation as anger, consider a reframe. What happens if you reframe it as “I feel (hot, heavy, tingly, etc…) in my (head, chest, abdomen, back.)”? If you have been following the series, in the last issue we covered the four breaths, Earth, Air, Water and Fire. What happens if you engage one of the breaths as you place your attention on the sensation. As you think about the situation, has anything shifted?
The truth of your experience
Your body is always speaking to you, informing you of the truth of your experience. You have been taught to ignore it. Remember your parents telling you to go to the bathroom before a trip even if you didn’t need to? Telling you you must be cold when you weren’t? This was all done with great intention. Unfortunately it started you on a journey to dismiss what your body is telling you.
The sensory cues, in combination with the four breaths, are a powerful way to begin the process of discovering what is sitting under the surface and preventing you from living the life you long for. The good news is you don’t have to do it alone. This is what I do. I work with my clients to discover their truths sitting beneath the surface, that once freed, invites new possibilities into their world.
Until the next time!
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Lisa J. Weiss, Transformation Maven, Speaker and Author offers programs for individuals and organizations seeking to break old patterns, communicate more effectively and connect more deeply. She invites you to Shift your perspective, Transform your relationships, and Evolve your world.
Over the many years of working with individuals and groups Lisa has found that most of her clients tend to focus on the body, the mind and the spirit separately. In order for healing to take place all three need to be engaged simultaneously. Her book Breath Sensations Words, available on Amazon.ca, is a gateway for you to deepen your awareness of the mind, body and spirit in real time.
Follow Lisa on:
IG @ljweiss: http://www.instagram.com/ljweiss
TickTock: @LisaJWeiss
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/lisajweiss
(Montreal Community Contact, March 31, 2023, p.16)
