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Resources to support your Journey
by
11.03.2023
4 min
Transforming through challenging emotions: How to harness emotions as a springboard for self growth.
Life is a fast paced myriad of experiences. Moment after moment, change happens around us and within us. No two experiences or encounters are the same, the multi-dimensional richness of human-ness challenges our world views and brings us to the edge of our comfort zone, triggering emotions that can feel equally uncomfortable (and amazing!). It is during these times that we are called to embrace the opportunity to expand our horizons, grow through our limitations and prosper further still into our infinite potential.
So, when emotions that don’t feel great (such as fear, anger, sadness, overwhelm etc) become present within you, think of them as growing pains and lean into the opportunity for a spot of home alchemy.
Here is how to go about it:
Be present with what you are feeling. Notice where sensations appear in your body and breathe into them (ie tightness in chest, twisting in stomach). We are often inclined to resist and judge an emotion because it feels uncomfortable. This resistance gives the emotion more staying power.. We could also be reinforcing the emotion with another secondary emotion - such as being fearful of our anger. As the old proverb goes “that which we resist, persists.” As soon as we can accept and allow how we are feeling, we will notice the intensity lighten. The power of awareness and acceptance is all it takes.
Often it’s tempting to judge our emotion and to get caught up in the narrative to essentially justify its presence. Whilst we remain seduced by the story, we are often fuelling and reinforcing the emotion whilst simultaneously moving further away from deeper and progressive understanding, essentially chasing our proverbial tails and winding ourselves up further. Often it can be helpful to externalise the story (by video is most impactful), then we can return to it at a future point when we have created more distance from the emotion.
When we add a positive emotion such as curiosity into the equation, we are afforded the superpower to helicopter above ourselves, introducing the objectivity and progressive mindset required to alchemise this into an opportunity for growth.
From this magical vantage point, we can now reflect on any limiting beliefs or blocks that might have dictated our reaction.
This is the beautiful closing of the loop, when we spiral upwards, having shed an element of ourselves that no longer serves us. We have lent into the challenge, embraced the growing pains and metamorphosed through the discomfort, in the process discovering a more empowered version of ourselves.
Be sure to thank yourself for your commitment to your own expansion. As one of my favourite quotes by Jerzy Gregorek states: “Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.”
With love,
Elsa