Meditation Monday: Moving out the Mad

Happy Tuesday friends! But Chrys, it's supposed to be meditation Mondays? You are absolutely correct! Yesterday I needed to process some things in my universe and opted to take a tech free day to meditate and move my body with intention and I am grateful for your flexibility and understanding as I continue to work on my time management skills.

Today in meditation, I would like us to focus on negative emotions.

Hold up. What? Why would we want to focus on negative emotions? Isn't that counterproductive? I don't want to feel icky things.

I hear you. I feel you. I understand. Hear me out friends!

We live in a pretty wild time in the world right now with a lot of discord and not nice things going on and people are not always so kind. On the other side of that is a pretty rad wellness movement that is encouraging us to be mindful of our mental and spiritual wellbeing. Awesome! Right? Yes! However, there is an underlying theme of toxic positivity. We consistently see things like "Good Vibes Only", "Everything will work out", and "Don't worry, Be happy" (sing along with me now!). Don't get me wrong, statements like these are made with the best of intentions. However, if we dig a little deeper, seeing or hearing these things can invalidate emotions we may be feeling about any given situation. I have talked previously about toxic positive wellness, and I want to press further into that by talking about why we should and how we can acknowledge and release those negative emotions through meditation.

Growing up, many of us heard the same things when it came to expressing negative emotions, specifically anger. "Suck it up." "Calm down." "Don't be so dramatic." "Control yourself." "Don't let it get to you."

All of those words invalidate the feelings we are having, and we find ourselves self-talking into downplaying and stuffing those emotions without processing them. So how can we do that in a healthy and positive way?

DISCLAIMER

This is the part where I give my disclaimer. I am not a mental health professional, nor do I play one on tv and any advice given should not be taken as medical guidance. If you are having a mental health or medical emergency, please call 911 or your mental health professional. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programing.

Let's start by discussing how repressed anger can manifest itself in our bodies. We hold on to resentments by pushing them down. "It's fiiiiine. I need to let it go." We know the drill. Before long, we may start noticing headaches, high blood pressure, stomach issues. Anger manifests itself in the liver and gall bladder and by allowing it to fester subconsciously in our bodies, we may inadvertently cause ourselves a carousel of physical symptoms. Chronic anger can do some real damage to every system in our body, and you deserve to be able to unblock and release it.

In order to move those emotional blockages out, we absolutely must acknowledge them. Something I hear regularly working with my trauma clients is that "It's really not that bad in the grand scheme of things" and "It was so long ago; I need to let it go." (Paraphrased of course and not actual client disclosures). Acknowledging the anger that we may be clinging to does not mean we are living in the past or rehashing things, it is giving ourselves permission to let it go and move out of the storage unit in our body, free up space in our mind, and heal our soul.

Instead of saying "I need to let this go", tell yourself "It is ok to feel angry or upset about this. Now how can I express, process and/or release this."

Releasing anger can be done in 1001 ways. Probably more than that but it's a fun number so I'm going with it.

Meditation:

Meditation is a key component for me personally in letting go of unpleasant emotions. You might assign that event/person/emotion a color or symbol and as you meditate, visualize that symbol moving through your body until it floats away, or you scream or cry it out, whichever suits you. Scream therapy is a thing and crying is a whole cathartic experience for us when we allow it to happen. I regularly cry during meditation and welcome the release as it is a method of cleansing.

Write It Out:

Another method that I encourage regularly is journaling, however that looks to you. Some people are not inclined to write and that is ok. A form of journaling I like to suggest is what I like to call "Talking yourself down". Turn on your talk to text or voice recording and just talk it out. By using a stream of conscious method, we can free up space in our brains and souls and sometimes might even surprise ourselves with what we are actually holding on to.

Break Something!!:

This is one my favorites! It compliments scream therapy and gives us an outlet to physically release that pent up energy and bonus endorphins. There are places you can pay to break things or even better, set up a smash station in your garage or back yard and get to smashing. Please use proper safety equipment but have fun with it!

Color Me Happy:

Pulling out the paints, markers or good old fashioned coloring books can be incredibly therapeutic in releasing negative emotions. One of my personal methods is what I like to call "Rage Art". I promise it's not as scary as it sounds lol. I will pull out a coloring book or a fresh canvas and turn on some "angry" music (I'm partial to 90's alt rock and heavy metal) and go to town. I have done some of my favorite pieces using this method and worked through a lot of emotions over the years.

Massage and/or Energy Work:

Scheduling holistic care whether that is body work, acupuncture, energy work, etc. is incredibly helpful in purging emotions that may be lingering in our bodies. By allowing a healer to help you, you are able to focus on allowing the flow of energy and moving those things out of your space. Studies have shown that regular massage/energy healing can help lower things like blood pressure, stress levels, and assist in our overall wellness including the release of anger and negative emotions.

Whatever method you choose to move your mad out, remember to be kind to yourself for having those emotions. Anger is big and overwhelming and sometimes we just have to feel it. By giving yourself permission to feel it, acknowledge it and move it out, you are giving yourself permission to be free of that negative space and ultimately live a healthier life.

Take a few moments today and scan yourself. Are you holding on to an emotion you would like to release? Are you having some physical symptoms and can't pinpoint the cause?

Meditate, move your body with intention, drink your water, color a picture and be well.

Namaste