Not everyone can name feelings. Some people think about feelings rather than feel the sensations of them in their bodies. Maybe they haven’t been shown how to feel or they’re scared of feeling something unpleasant.
When we don’t feel, the feelings get trapped, grow bigger, become belief systems or ‘parts’ of the self, and they make people do crazy shit to avoid feeling.
They are a sort of protection that used to work well but now they hinder growth and promote stuckness. They keep people in the known for fear of the unknown of the transformed self.
It is natural to have this fear. It is a fear that arises before any process of transformation – therapy, initiation, art, relationships…
How to feel when society is built on rational thinking, rather than feeling, intuition and instinct? Here are some tiny steps:
- Create space. Could be on waking or going to sleep. Laying in bed and paying attention to your body – what sensations are there?
- With curiosity, what is the quality of the sensation? Is there a word or image associated with it?
- Keep paying attention to the sensation. Does it move as you notice it? Say hello to it. Welcome it, if you can.
- Thank it for making it self known.
That’s it. You don’t have to have a story attached to a feeling. You can allow it to just be there. You can practise this for a minute or an hour – however long you like. It might seem weird if you’re not used to it but it could, in time, open up a world of delight.
Let me know how you get on, if you’d like to.
Much love,
Julia.
