Today’s blog is not about how food can make our bellies bloat, but how emotions (that are hard to digest or we don’t want to accept are stored) can do the same thing.
Did you know our bellies can be wonderful monitors of our emotional health and the truth can always be found there. One of the reasons we tend to hide or push aside our feelings is that we live in a culture that has not traditionally supported emotional awareness. However, as the connection between mind and body–our emotions and our physical health– becomes clearer, awareness of the importance of feeling our feelings has grown.
We tend to stuff our feelings in our body, when we are ashamed of them or not ready to express them. There is nothing wrong with having feelings, whatever they may be. You can’t help your feelings; if anything, you can help yourself by acknowledging the truth of your emotions so you can set yourself free. Denying what our bodies want to feel can lead to trouble now or down the line, which is why being in the thick of our feelings, no matter how scary it seems, is really the best thing we can do for ourselves.
The space where this most often happens, is in our bellies (but can be anywhere). Rather than telling people, or even ourselves, the way we truly feel, these emotions take up space until we are ready to let them go.
Stuffing our feelings in our bellies may feel “safe”, then we don’t really have to deal with our emotions. Yet, doing so can actually be detrimental to our emotional well-being and physical health.
One way to connect with and release your emotions is to focus on your belly area. Take a moment to centre yourself with some deep belly breathing and quiet meditation, relaxing your body fully and turning off the chatter in your head.
With a hand on your navel continue to breathe into your belly. You can ask your belly to revel the emotions stored there. Listen for the answer…. It may not come straight away, continue to breath into your belly allowing yourself to go deeper and deeper can you feel or sense any changes, a tightness releasing, an increase in warmth, e.g If sadness arises, we can notice its presence and welcome it, noting where in our bodies we feel it, and allowing ourselves to express it through tears or a quiet turning inward.
When we simply allow ourselves to fully feel our feelings as they come, we tend to let them go easily. This is all we are required to do; our feelings simply want to be felt.
We often complicate the situation by applying mental energy in the form of analysis, when all we really need is to allow.
Writing down your feelings, thoughts or insights that come to you, in a journal, remembering the body doesn’t lie.
Releasing your emotions from your belly doesn’t have to be painful and hard; rather, it can be organic and effortless.
It’s important not to judge whatever comes up for you
The deeper purpose of our feelings is to transform the terrain of our inner world, sometimes creating space for more feelings to flow, sometimes providing sustenance for growth. All we need to do is allow the process by relaxing, opening, and receiving the bounty of our emotions.
