An Emotional Dilemma- Processed Emotions Vs. Unprocessed Emotions

 

 

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts.

 At some time of time in our lives, we all have been overwhelmed by our emotions and have not been able to process our feelings completely. Either it could be because of anger due to injustice, grief from a loss, a panicked fear or an impending threat.  Whatever it has been has led to a lot of dysregulation in our nervous system, in turn leading to physical changes such as headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure, depression, heart disease, etc. 

Emotions, especially negative ones are often all-consuming and can consume a lot of energy from the body. Moreover, our very own environments also condition us sometimes not to express our emotions fully – unless of course, it is POSITIVE. 

Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts and you are the slave to your emotions #ElizabethGilbert

 

However, whichever emotion we may feel certainly has a purpose and we must learn how to identify how to process our emotions so that we can become emotionally more resilient. 

 

Emotions, arise from different regions of the brain and are certainly part of your emotional makeup. While certain emotions can be expressed freely without any judgement, many of the repressed emotions are the ones that are in charge of zapping mental energy, negatively affecting the body and can also lead to health problems.

 

Some of the core emotions include anger, sadness, fear and joy.  

Unprocessed emotions are avoiding feeling uncomfortable feelings by pushing these emotions into the subconscious which adversely affects the body as it gets stored in our organs, muscles, and tissues. It leads to chronic health problems, and it undermines our overall well-being.

How to Process Emotions

https://youtu.be/b197XOd9S7U?si=xVKih5DM2Lxdbxdc

 

If we are not able to process emotions completely it is very important to ask ourselves. “what is this emotion trying to tell me?”” What part of me is trying to be heard?”

 

These unprocessed emotions do not simply disappear, they tend to fester all over the body and bottle up emerging in unhealthy and unconscious ways.

 

Someone may say a small statement to you which could trigger a lot of unprocessed emotions that you may start to act in unreasonable manners. However, this is not your fault; you have to simply be aware of what is triggering you. It is always important to be conscious of your reactive system and body.

 

At times, some of these unprocessed emotions may lead to psychosomatic issues such as digestive issues or chronic pain; or even nausea and muscle tension.

 

 When we are confronted with a flood of emotions, sometimes, it is important not to notice the physical sensations that are happening to our body instead. The ‘Why/How/Who’ all does not matter if your jaw has stiffened or your heartbeat has become faster. What is important is to bring the body back in alignment with its natural flow or sense of being. 

 

Emotions are essentially energy manifesting throughout the body, which is trying to find a way to be discharged. A constrictive state of suppressed emotions may even compromise our vitality as human beings.  

 

Emotional processing is essential for our well-being and sometimes it’s all about accepting our emotions; working with the emotions with patience and self-compassion. 

 

 

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our  growth and freedom. – Victor Frankl