- A major realization I've had last week: - I've been running away from difficult emotions for years and years - Especially from feeling [[My mothers death in 2018 sadness]], [[Traumatic Experience at Work|disappointment]] and [[The abusive friendship with IM 1989|anger]] - The problem is that when I numb those feelings, all other feelings are also numbed - You can't selectively numb specific feelings - So, instead of running away from them, I've decided to - Step TOWARDS all feelings I'm experiencing - WELCOME all feelings, especially the ones I've tried to lock away - PROVIDE energy, safe space and hopefully OUTLETS for all feelings I'm experiencing ### Creating safe time and space for myself - This has been the most important first step towards being able to handle difficult emotions - I've set aside two moments of time every day to simply be with myself, actively (not watching TV). - 1 hour right after getting out of bed ("Sadhana") - 1 hour before going to bed - Often I do Yoga and practice my headstand with my [[FeetUp Headstand Tool]] because it gets me in the moment quickly - I also am grateful for [[My soft and squishy fitness mat]] which makes practicing all other types of Yoga so much easier - I've also cleaned the room and added nice lighting to create a relaxed and safe atmosphere - Anchoring myself, my day, with myself has helped me have the resources and the focus to actually allow difficult feelings to arise ### Releasing anger - Anger is an emotion that I never learned to deal with - Growing up, anger was a taboo - Anger was 'spritiually bypassed' with the idea of 'love and peace' - I need to find a non-structured, destructive and safe way to release it - Smash old wood in the forest (TBD) - Build and smash a DIY punching-bag at home (TBD) - Collect random things (glasses, mirrors, old electronics,etc.) and smash them with a baseball bat ### Embracing sadness - [[⭐️ Kinesiotape for Psychological Well-Being – Experiment (S21 Mini-Project)]] ### Managing disappointment - TBD ![[IMG20210731151432.jpg]] ![[IMG20210731151437.jpg]] ![[IMG20210731151516.jpg]] ## Related - [[⭐️ My mothers death in 2018]]