The Bottom of Pandora’s Box

I was working with a client a few months back. I asked her, “How do you feel about that?”

Her response:

“I don’t know. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to open Pandora’s box on THAT.”

I loved that response so much.  You know why? She knew the part of Pandora’s story everyone knows.

Open the box.  Release ALL the evils of the world: Sorrow, disease, violence, despair and death. The world ends. I lose my job, lose my license to practice physical therapy. I end up living in my car. The end. (Ha, I bet you thought you were the only one with this story. Trust me.  You are not alone 😉).

What my client did not know? At the bottom of Pandora’s box is HOPE.

Afraid of what you might find if you open the box to your feelings? Unwilling (or unable?) to process feelings? Scared of what these feelings might “do to you.”

I promise, at the bottom of processing a feeling is HOPE. Hope that you can cope. Hope that tomorrow will be a better day. Hope that for every evil you might be worried about there is something good and beautiful waiting.

Have no idea what I am talking about? “Process a feeling.”

If you have ever seen the Netflix message, “Are you still there?”  or polished off a full tub of Ben & Jerry’s with no memory of it or said, “It’s fine” when it is CLEARLY not FINE or,  my favorite 😊, you  have the shoe in EVERY SINGLE COLOR, you have STUFFED a feeling.   When you stuff feelings you either end up with more shoes than you can wear or a physical illness.  Some sources suggest that 70 – 90% of all doctor related visits are for stress-related complaints.

So…how about processing these feelings instead of eating them or stuffing them (Not sure I’m ready to give up shoe shopping…but let’s try!)

Here is one of my favorite ways to process a feeling. AND I will link a free YouTube video of this same process below.

Breathe-Relax-Feel-Watch-Allow

(I wont’ take credit for this. It’s something I learned during my first Yoga Teacher Training at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Lennox, MA).

1. BREATHE: If possible, close your eyes. Take a full breath in through your nose with your mouth closed. Put one hand on your belly and make sure it poofs OUT into your hand while you are breathing.

2. RELAX: As you exhale, release the tension: Between your eyes, in your jaw, in your shoulders. Keep going through your body. Breathe in (see #1)….relax.

3. FEEL: Notice an uncomfortable sensation in your body. Put your hand over this spot. Does it have a color? Texture? What is it trying to TELL you. (Yes, ask it. This is a feeling trapped in your body).

4. WATCH: Without altering or changing anything, without judgment, watch this sensation. Does it get bigger or smaller? Does it spin or vibrate? Name it if you can. If it’s hard to name, start with these: BAD-SAD-MAD-GLAD.

5. ALLOW: Witness this feeling as if it belongs to someone else. Allow it to permeate your body. Feelings are not facts. Feelings are vibrations in the body. Sometimes they are a warning (like anger), sometimes they remind you how lucky you are (like love). The point is not to get hung up on them. WATCH then ALLOW.  The vibration in your body can NOT hurt you and will pass within 90 seconds. Yup. That’s right 90 seconds. How come I was angry all day yesterday? Well…that is your MIND prolonging the feeling with thinking and ruminating.

Seem weird? Too hard? This makes no sense?

Here is a LINK to the above process and a separate LINK to a video on processing feelings.

Want more help.  Click the link below to book your free call.

Come ready with one problem, one thought or one feeling that is really taking up space in your life.

Let’s do this!