4 Steps to Processing Negative Emotions so You Can Get On With Your Life

In such a fast paced world, numbing our feelings has gotten to be so easy. What with social media, fast food, netflix, and a bar around every corner, it's gotten so easy for us to numb whatever we are feeling. This isn't healthy. Numbing our emotions only brings them back to us. If we keep numbing, we can't get to the root of why we are feeling a certain way...which is a sure fire sign that the emotion or the situation that causes the emotion will just keep coming back. Rather than numb, we can process. Click the link below to check out my 4 steps to processing and getting over negative emotions. 

1. Feel the Feelings: This can be the hardest part, because this is where the numbing usually wants to come and have it's fun. When you feel an emotion coming on, sit with it. Don't intellectualize it by trying to put a name to it. Just feel it. Where do you feel it in your body? What does it feel like? Sit with this feeling for about 2 minutes. Take a deep breath, then...
2.  Write it Out: Grab a pen and paper, or flip your journal open to a fresh page and just write it out. When you are writing really try to get at the root of the emotion. With every statement you declare, follow it with a why? Write out your answer to WHY you feel that way. Keep going down, down, down until you feel you've reached the root. And don't worry, this takes practice. You may not reach the root the first few times. But honor yourself by allowing for this practice to grow.
3. Read and Process: Give yourself some time to read through what you wrote. Go back through, read slowly and then surrender it. Ask yourself: Am I willing to see this in a different way? You don't have to find that different way right now...just commit to being willing. The new way to perceive may come to you in a few minutes, an hour, or a few days. But just know that you have committed to a willingness to see whatever has set you off in a new light.
4. Say Goodbye: Take the piece of paper and dispose of it safely in one of two ways. Either burn it or flush it. There's something very cathartic about watching a piece of paper with what were once such strong emotions just burn away. ( for safety: Do this over the kitchen or bathroom sink please!!) Once you've disposed of the writing, take a few deep breaths, smile, and get on with your day.

I'd love to hear from you. Have you tried this? Let me know what you think and what shifts you've experienced since trying it out!