Pain and discomfort are unavoidable, it’s just part of the human condition. In our society, we are obsessed with always feeling good. We expect to feel happy all the time and if we don’t, we believe that something is wrong with us.
Most of us have no idea how to communicate with our inner world, why? Because we were never taught the importance and value of this. So generally, when uncomfortable feelings arise, we reach for external comforts. Desperately seeking ways to distract ourselves, clinging to those feelings of joy and rejecting unpleasant feelings.
Emotions are Neither Good nor Bad, They are Neutral
Being human means that we have an amazing ability to experience a huge range of emotions. The problem is, we tend to label our emotions as good or bad, positive or negative. But the truth is, there really is no good or bad when it comes to our emotions, they just are.
All emotions are valid, and serve a purpose. If we didn’t experience pain then how would we know joy? If we didn’t experience anger then how would we learn how to protect ourselves and create healthy boundaries?
It’s important to remember than nothing is permanent. Pain and discomfort will arise and dissolve, just like happiness and joy. The reason we suffer so much is because we cling to feeling happy and avoid feeling pain. This only fuels the power of control our emotions have over us.
We build up so much unnecessary fear and drama around our emotions. If we can learn to just stay present and accept them as neutral, without creating stories and obsessions, they no longer have the power to scare us. This gives us the opportunity to gain immense wisdom, healing and strength.
Finding Courage to Communicate with your Inner World
“Our emotions are messengers from our inner world, learn to listen to what they have to tell you. Don’t be afraid.’’
We tend to overcomplicate our emotions by creating drama around how we are feeling, trying to analyse everything. But the answer to experiencing true happiness is really quite simple. I’m not saying it’s easy, it takes courage and practice, but it is simple.
Are you ready for it? Here is is…
Accept all emotions as equal, stop pushing away uncomfortable feelings and learn to sit with them by communicating with your inner world.
Before I go on and give you the tools of how to do this, I would like to share something personal with you. An insight into my struggles and how I am learning to tune into my inner world.
The reason I was able to write this article today was because I spent the morning sitting in a very uncomfortable, painful and confronting space. By choosing to sit with this discomfort I was eventually able to find clarity.
How I work with Uncomfortable Emotions
This morning I woke up feeling a deep sense of sadness and loneliness. I attempted to distract myself with various tasks, until I eventually admitted to myself that I was using avoidance to try to push the discomfort away. So, I worked up the courage to sit with what was arising.
I meditated and sat with the pain, experiencing a heaviness in my heart and solar plexus. Many painful emotions were arising, fear, sadness, heartbreak. I began to cry as I discovered a space of vulnerability, a place deep inside of me that felt unloved and disconnected, and it hurt like hell!
I mustered up the courage to delve deeper into the layers of pain. I communicated with my inner world and asked myself, “What do I need to know at this time?’’ The answer came to me very clearly. It told me, I want to feel love and connection from others, but I wasn’t providing it to myself.
Then I realised that I needed to tune into the thoughts and beliefs that were ruminating in my mind. Reevaluate them and give myself the comfort and love I was seeking externally.
I chose to honour what my inner self was asking. I meditated on self-love and compassion and with this bought an enormous amount of love and warmth to my heart. The uncomfortable, painful emotions began to dissipate and I felt a sense of inner peace.
Amazingly afterwards my writers block also disappeared and these words flowed through me.
When you learn to tap into and communicate with your inner world, you unlock the potential to create and manifest from a place of deep wisdom. Life force flows freely through you, providing insight and power to live your life aligned with passion and purpose.
How to Communicate with your Inner World
Here are some practical steps to implement this process into your life. Remember, it takes great courage to go inwards so be kind to yourself and practice patient.
“Avoidance is giving into the ego, seeking comforts externally. Staying, sitting with uncomfortable feelings and emotions takes great courage.”
1. Decide to stay
This is a conscious choice, and empowering choice. You need to first become aware that you are avoiding uncomfortable emotions to make changes in your life. When you consciously decide to stay and go inwards, you are choosing to face painful memories, traumas and fear you have buried away. You must be ready to sit with whatever arises and work through the layers.
2. Practice mindfulness
This will help you identify when you are seeking external distractions to avoid uncomfortable feelings, clinging outwardly, instead of facing what’s coming up internally. Pay attention to your avoidance patterns and behaviours, notice the triggers and when you are clinging to particular mindsets, emotions or objects.
With practice you will learn to pinpoint moments of distraction, bring yourself back to the present moment and sit with what is arising for you.
3. Imagine you are comforting a friend or loved one
Reflect on this for a moment… If a friend or loved one was feeling down and needed your support would you be there for them? Would you listen and acknowledge their pain? Or would you ignore them being dismissive and judgemental?
Of course you would offer them love and support, right?
Now answer this, would you do the same for yourself? When you are struggling or feeling down how often do you communicate with your inner world with kindness, love and compassion?
The truth is, most of the time it’s easier being there for others than it is for ourselves.
That’s why it’s important to treat yourself like you would others. Be there for yourself. Tune in, sit with what’s coming up and attend to your own needs. Stop being dismissive when uncomfortable emotions arise.
Most importantly, stop judging yourself! Give yourself permission to feel what you need to feel, it’s all valid.
4. Tune in and ask yourself questions
I wrote earlier about how I asked myself, “What do I need to know at this time?’’ Our emotions are messengers from our internal world, they hold wisdom. When you begin to communicate with your inner world ask yourself questions, figure out what you need.
You might like to ask, ‘’What is coming up for me right now?’’ Or “What’s underneath this pain.’’
With practice you will become more in tune and the questions and answers will come naturally. Listen quietly for the answer, they might be communicated through words, bodily sensations, visualisations or a sign. Just tune in and pay attention to what comes up.
5. Practice patience
Sometimes uncomfortable emotions might feel way too intense to sit with. Just know that it’s okay, you might just need some time. If you are struggling to sit with the discomfort do something nurturing for yourself, go for a hike in nature, do yoga, sit and drink tea, talk with a friend or get creative.
This work takes patience and sometimes we need healthy distractions so we can find the strength to work through it. Be kind to yourself, you will intuitively know when the time is right to sit in silence.
Everything has layers, it’s important to shed those layers as and when you are ready. Remember, it can’t be forced.
Learning to communicate with your inner world is a wonderfully healing practice. Be proud of yourself for finding the courage to make these changes in your life and know that it’s the path towards experiencing true inner clarity and peace.
What wisdom have you discovered through communicating with your internal world? Share your comments below.
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