Just FEEL It!
Face it; Embrace it; Express it; Listen for the message!
A simple process for making conscious contact with your emotions for immediate relief and emotional mastery.
Our emotions are the source of our experience of love, passion and aliveness! They cause us to feel all of these wonderful, expanded feelings that we live for. Yet, they also cause us to feel hurt, sadness, fear and anger. Emotions, in their most basic state, are energy - energy intended to be in motion. I use the term “e-motion” as a tool to remember this concept.
When you are feeling an “e-motion”, energy is moving through your body. Any time you notice yourself feeling stuck, disconnected, or in a self-sabotaging pattern, you have stopped an “e-motion” that wants connection. Energy intended to be in motion has been stopped. In psychological terms, you have suppressed an “e-motion” that needs and wants to be felt through connection.
“E-motions” are gifts that allow us to be fully alive and engaged in our lives. The healthy use of “e-motions” can give us valuable messages, keep us safe, help us connect to[with] others and [have us]experience great joy. However, when we allow our ego to repress or suppress our emotional state, we separate from our essence and lose our connection to wholeness.
When we suppress our “e-motions”, they become lodged in the cells of our body, causing tension and stress reactions. If these “e-motions” are not released and are forced to remain trapped in our body, physical pain and illness result, as well as emotional pain. Our unconscious mind then continues on creating self-sabotaging circumstances that reinforce our emotional pain. It is as if the stuck energy has a gravitational pull that attracts people and circumstances into our life for the purpose of forcing the hurt to be experienced and thus finally get released.
So, why do people suppress their “e-motions”?
1. They mistakenly believe that the pain of their “e-motion” will be greater than it actually is;
2. They fear that the “e-motion” will overtake them and they may not be able to recover, remaining stuck with even more discomfort; and
3. They fear appearing weak, causing damage to their self image.
Our objective is to connect with, and be present to our “e-motions”. Each of the following four, common mental activities -- while understandable -- take us away or hinder us from being connected to our “emotions”:
Judging/Blaming
Analyzing
Strategizing
Bargaining
Notice when you’re tempted by these hindrances and simply bring yourself back to being present to the e-motion.
The Steps to Just FEEL It!
I created the Just FEEL It process as a way to honor and then release e-motions. Whatever we resist persists. Whatever we have the courage to fully face, feel and embrace heals and becomes grace. The healthy way to move the e-motions through your body is to allow yourself to be fully present with them, experience them, hear the messages they are sending you, and then releasing the energy. What remains is your Essence.
Step One- Face It; Notice what is actually happening with you in present time.
When you are either feeling stuck or experiencing an uncomfortable e-motion the first step is to Face the the e-motion with compassionate awareness. The best way to do this is to stop the internal dialogue about what is happening and why it’s happening and see if you can discover where you are most experiencing the sensation of this e-motion in your body. Then, bring awareness to that area without judging, analyzing, blaming or trying to fix the cause.
Here’s how? Ask yourself this the question: What is actually happening with me in this moment? You may or may not know how to name what you are feeling and this is okay. Bring your attention to the actual physical sensations of the e-motion in your body. For example, If you are feeling something like sadness, notice the physical expression of this sadness. Notice where in the body this e-motion seems to be most present.
Step Two- Embrace It; Embrace this feeling as fully as you are able with compassionate attention.
Breathe into the e-motion by visualizing your breath going to that area of your body. Imagine becoming the most loving and nurturing parent that you can imagine to this innocent e-motion. Continue to provide compassionate attention by noticing as much as you can about this feeling.
* If this E-motion had a shape, sense what it might be.
* If it had a size, sense what it might be.
* If it had a color, sense what it might be.
* If it had texture, sense what it might be.
* If it had another mood, sense what might it be.
* Recall an earlier time that this feeling was around, about how old were you? Imagine this younger version of you in front of you. What did s/he most need in this situation?
Step Three- Express It.
* Sense for a moment, If this e-motion could express itself as a sound, what might it be?
* On your next three exhales, allow yourself to find a sound that resonates with your e-motion and make the sound out loud; or silently if in public and the situation calls for it.
Step Four -Listen for the wisdom of the unmet need.
* Take at least one full minute to set with this e-motion to discover it’s teaching. You may use the following inquiry questions to get you started.
* Was this a clean emotion or dirty emotion? Clean e-motions are direct responses to a current life circumstance; dirty ones are influenced by past unintegrated e-motions.
“ What unmet need or desire is connected this e-motion?
” What are some creative ways that I can get these needs/desires met?”
How could I contribute this need/desire to someone else, if I choose to?”
* See the energy associated with the situation as a basic form of pure energy passed through to inform you. Now that you’ve received the message, just let it go; returning to wholeness.
Take a moment to honor yourself for being a good steward of the energy that is it’s nature to be in motion and inform you of a need or desire. You Faced, Embraced, Expressed and Listened. Notice that you have returned to the expanded state of wholeness.
To summarize the process:
1. FACE it by noticing what is actually going on in your body. Are you willing to be with this fully right now? If not, when?
2. EMBRACE it by holding the e-motion in your awareness with compassionate attention.
3. EXPRESS it with a sound or sounds
4. LISTEN for the unmet need that was the source of the upset.
Listen and/or download this 20 minute Emotional Scan Meditation. Ideal for emotional clearing. 
The Most Powerful and Effective Way to Gain Emotional Relief and Learn Skills for Long-Term
Emotional Mastery is through Conscious Integrative Breath-Therapy.
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