[Daily OM]: Our emotions color our lives with
varying palettes. Sometimes we feel a strong emotion in reaction to
something that has happened, but emotions also visit us seemingly out of
the blue, flooding us unexpectedly with joy or grief or melancholy.
Like the weather, they come and go, influencing our mental state with
their particular vibration. Sometimes a difficult emotion hangs around
longer than we would like, and we begin to wonder when it will release
its hold on us. This is often true of grief stemming from loss, for
example, or lingering anger over a past event.
Usually, if we allow ourselves to feel our emotions fully when they come
up, they recede naturally, giving way to another and another. When an
emotion haunts us, it is often because we are afraid of really feeling
it. Emotions like despair and rage are powerful, and it is natural to
want to hold them at bay. Certainly, we don't want to let them take us
over so that we say or do things we later regret. When we are facing
this kind of situation, it can be helpful to ask the spirit, "How long
do I need to sit with these emotions, how long do I need to feel these
emotions before they can pass?" If you ask sincerely and wait, an answer
will come. Setting a time limit on your engagement with that difficult
emotion may be just the technique you need to face it fully.
When you have a sense of how much time you need to spend, set a timer.
Sit down and make yourself available to the emotion that has been
nagging you. All you have to do is feel it. Avoid getting attached to it
or rejecting it. Simply let it ebb and flow within you. Emotions are by
their nature cyclical, so you can trust that just as one reaches its
apex it will pass. Each time you sit with its presence without either
repressing or acting out, you will find that that difficult emotion was
the catalyst for much needed emotional healing.