Working with strong emotions (plus some questions for you)
September 11, 2023 | 5 CommentsAudio-only version is here.
Meditation practice begins at 14:32.
Hello, Open Heart Project. I hope you are well and finding ways to be joyful and kind (to yourself, others, the planet).
This video suggests three ways we can work with so-called negative emotions. There are so many all over the place! It can be very difficult to figure out how to work with rage, fear, and, perhaps most dangerous, apathy. I hope you find something useful in the thoughts I share. It is very important to find ways to work with your mind so please use the 10-minute meditation as you wish.
On another note, I am really interested to learn more about you.
The Open Heart Project has grown and changed so much over the years. When I started it way back in 2013, I had some sense of who was involved and why you may have signed up for these emails. It was so much smaller.
I’d love to hear from you. If you would take a moment to respond to few questions, that would be wonderful. You can find them here.
Many thanks!
With love, Susan
categorized in: dharma
5 Comments
I’ve heard you talk about this many times Susan and every time I do, I find new things and perspectives. Thanks so much Susan.
way too late – my anger messed up my life in every way possible last week – but I shall start over
Great reminder about experiencing anger. Recently, when I was looking at my anger and trying to separate the feeling from the story, I felt that my anger had electric energy, stimulating and a little intoxicating. It felt as though there was an invisible current, red/black and ropy with spitting fireworks, and I was reaching upward with a claw to grab onto one of those ropes. There was a reciprocal quality to the grasping, that I was feeding the current as well as grabbing it. Then I felt that it was in my power to let go, to open my claw, and allow the anger current to flow on by – I think that was where I could set the story aside. And there was solidity and power in the decision to do so. This sounds so woo-woo, and I am not a woo-woo person (usually). Could it be that free floating anger is something that is so beguiling in its energy and power that people are attracted to it under stress? Anger feels more powerful than fear; it seems like one has more control rather than stepping off the cliff. Maybe looking at the fear is itself too scary and we quickly grab the red rope….
I have been thinking along those lines lately and have begun to sometimes see that under my anger is either deep grief or equally deep fear.
Thank you for your comment.
First, I have heard anger expressed as “unattended sorrow.” And that lands with me.
Second, as someone currently in treatment for PTSD – one of the primary things I have learned is: the trauma response is inherently a “capacity” issue in the brain/body, meaning: many days it can feel like moving mountains to attend to my own needs, let alone someone else’s.
I have beat myself up mightily over not ‘giving’ enough during my recovery – and it remains a struggle for me.
This, I offer humbly and with great compassion to both those who may be in the same boat, and to myself. I hope we can extend some mercy and self-acceptance to ourselves as we heal.
-Gail