Resistance is futile

Imagine for a moment that our emotions and feelings are the blood running through our circulatory system. For us to be healthy our heart pumps our rich oxygenated blood (feelings and emotions) around our bodies going from the tips of our toes all the way to our brains experiencing the good times and the bad. Over time we start resisting our emotions and that creates build up in the arteries. If we leave that build up to continue - in the circulatory sense it causes all sorts of life threatening issues. No different to suppressing or resisting our emotions and feelings.

So why do we resist emotion? What I mean by resist is not allowing ourselves to feel what's going on in the moment. My experience is many of us struggle with this. Really being with sadness, grief, failure or even elation, joy and happiness. I know myself I struggle with rejection (amongst others!). Ironic really given my new business venture is bound to involve getting rejected. 

Even writing this I can feel myself trying to suppress what it feels like to be rejected. What happens if you hate this blog? What if no-one reads it? I grab hold of these words because by doing that it focuses my brain on thinking and not feeling. If I was closer to home, not on a train and it wasn't 8am(!), I might go to the kitchen and poor a LARGE glass of wine and put a box set on the TV - a process of numbing. If I continue to resist I can't learn from it. 

This constant resistance of emotions, that we probably all do in some way, surely can not be good for us? Just by looking at our societies response to mental health should tell us something. If I broke (read hurt) my leg, you'd encourage me to go to Accident and Emergency. If I told you I was in a great deal of pain because I was feeling loss - what would you say? 

Last week was mental health week in the UK and there's been much publicity with the Royal Family making a call to society to act. My call to action though is this - take a stand for your emotional health and start exploring those feelings you resist. Resistance is futile. 

Coaching is one way to explore emotions - if you'd like to find out more get in touch.

STOP PRESS! 3 for 3! For the first three people to contact me about coaching I will offer you three free sessions in exchange for three referrals and a testimonial. Get in touch now!