Stress “ a friend or an enemy?” # 4

Mistake #4: Suppressing Your Feelings

In October  of 2010, a man came to see me in my office practice who said his neck and back were giving him some trouble and he had difficulties with his sleep.  

He told me that he had gone through some recent stress, but didn't reveal any more detail than that.

After doing a coaching and energetic assessment, I decided that he  needed to release the tension in the muscles on either side of his spine and at the same time the pressure inside his head.   so I worked with him with visualization and affirmation tools and I suggested to see a Shiatsu practicioner in order  to release it.

In the philosophy of some natural therapies, such as Shiatsu, if a person has been keeping their feelings or stresses bottled up inside, their body may become tense on part of their middle or upper back. (It is interesting how your body can reflect a picture of your emotions.)

At the end of the session, when I asked him how he was feeling, he told me that as Iwe were working erergeticly on that middle section on his back, he suddenly felt this strong feeling of frustration and anger come up out of nowhere. It was as if all that emotional tension that he had kept to himself was coming to the surface. A few minutes later those feelings just disappeared completely and he felt very calm and peaceful.

He then went on to tell me that he had recently been through a difficult relationship break-up and that he kept at lot of his frustration bottled up because he found it difficult to talk about his feelings.

Realize that your body is a walking diary of your life's events. Your body holds all your tensions and feelings that aren’t expressed or released. Keeping your feelings locked up inside is like putting more and more air into a balloon - eventually the pressure of the air will somehow have to force it's way out.

Whether it be in your business or personal life - how you deal with your emotions will affect your behaviour, your mood and how patiently you interact with your customers, clients, colleagues, and friends.

Everything in life needs space to let go so that they can grow.

Practice expressing your feelings each day in one of three ways:

1. Talk to people about your feelings. Find someone who can listen without trying to tell you what to do.

2. Talk to yourself. No, it doesn't mean that you are crazy - but sometimes just talking out loud in front of a mirror can help to clarify, and express, how you feel and can clear your head.

3. Write it down in a letter. Not on the computer - but a hand written letter.

Writing it out can be a powerful way of releasing emotions by expressing your feelings without worrying about saying the wrong thing to someone. At the end of your letter, re-read it and then tear it up. This is not a diary to be kept - it is only a way to get your feelings out.

Getting your feelings out by talking, writing or other means, can help clarify what your thoughts and bring your challenges into perspective. Withheld emotions tend make problems feel a lot big than they may actually be.

TO BE CONTINUED….