When you find yourself in a difficult or trying time, do you have a tendency to close or shut down or are you able to notice what is going on and stay open? Many of us will notice that when we struggle, we want to live in denial or find a way to numb the pain. We may become overwhelmed or feel unsafe or insecure. It makes sense that we would not want to deal with these feelings. Who wants to feel pain? We all want to be happy. Unfortunately, denying our feelings, does not work.
A more productive option is to keep our hearts open and notice what we are feeling. Befriend our difficult emotions. Don’t act them out. Don’t repress them. Sweeping negative feelings under the rug just makes for a lumpy rug! Rather, we learn to just be with what we are feeling. Breathe through it. Remember no feeling is final.
Counseling, meditation and breath work are good ways to help us lean into whatever we are experiencing.
Through counseling, we become more aware of ourselves and our unhelpful patterns or tendencies. We learn to be gentle and kind to ourselves, even to the parts of ourselves that we may not like. We are reminded we are profoundly lovable. We learn to stay open to the difficult feelings. As part of my counseling work with clients, we often do conscious breathwork and practice meditation techniques to help us grow more comfortable with the uncertainty in our lives. When we develop the tools to stay with our negative feelings and process them, we become more flexible, more resilient, and more confident about ourselves in the midst of difficulty.
Confidential and secure counseling via telehealth is available.
If counseling, breath work or meditation would help you at this point in your life, please contact Elizabeth Pankey-Warren, 561/866-6607. Confidential and secure teletherapy is available.