I wanted to share a little bit about my week last week. It was a highly emotional one. But honestly, nothing really out of the blue happened, the difference was, I allowed myself to feel.
Some people think that since I’m a therapist I must be a pro at all of this stuff, but honestly, I continue to work on it all the time…
I’m a firm believer in practicing what I preach. If I didn’t then that wouldn’t be authentic now would it?
The funny thing is I continue to surprise myself when I do things well
For example I was in awe of myself for independently waking up to an alarm and getting to work on time for about the first 5 years of my career before it no longer seemed so foreign. I was the kid that needed a lot nudging in the morning to get out of bed…. I say that surprise is long gone… but when I remember those moments as a teenager I still feel elements of surprise that I am somehow a functioning adult.
Anyways….. onto the food….
The philosophy I practice under and believe in, is that if we fully experience our feelings, non-judgmentally, and care for ourselves in the process, we can fight addiction (which is emotional numbing).
Getting back to last week. Like I said, it was an emotional one, but nothing horribly crazy. I was stepping hard outside of my comfort zone though. Ordered podcast equipment, allowed vulnerability, when I felt sad I allowed it all to come to the surface. I talked about my sadness, I sat in my sadness. It was a full spectrum of emotional experiencing.
The funny thing was, after a particularly sad day I got home late and still needed to eat dinner. I wouldn’t put it past myself to eat a box of Oreos for dinner because it’s easy and feels good. Since I was allowing all my emotions to be there and be with them, I didn’t want the Oreos. I wanted soup….
Even though I’ve worked on this process for quite some time as I mentioned earlier I still amaze myself.
I’m like “way to go Stacey! You’re feeling your feelings and tuning into your body in a loving caring way, and giving it what it truly wants, what will truly nourish and replenish it in a healthy way and not a self-destructive way!” HUZZAH! #positivereinforcement
I truly believe that when we feel our feelings and tune into our bodies, we find that we really don’t want the Oreos, we want what will truly replenish us.
There is a reason we want soup when we are sick. It’s warm and comforting; it’s light and has nutrients in it that allows the body to rest and recover.
I wasn’t sick, but I was emotionally drained from feeling.
Which brings me to my next point: Treat yourself with the same love and care as you would when you’re physically sick
For some reason society seems to shame people who don’t take care of themselves when they’re sick and assume you’ll still go to work etc. But there are people out there that do take care of themselves. And guess what? They recover and feel better. They do what they need to get back on their feet again, quickly. Now it’s just taking that knowledge and translating it to emotional needs and BAM, we are doing fabulous.
The moral of the story?
Feel your feelings, receive support from others, provide compassion and love to yourself, tune into your true needs, tend to those needs in a loving caring way, and shine from the inside out.