Feeling Down?

Everybody feels down sometimes, but I've noticed a lot of sad faces around at the moment.

I've not been exempt from it either; I felt quite low myself a few weeks ago.

Nobody likes feeling down, but I learned recently that your own thoughts can make you feel worse by beating  you up about feeling down and being "a misery" so it's a double whammy. Talk about catch 22!

Society doesn't like you to be anything other than happy and conformist either, so well-meaning friends, family or colleagues may unhelpfully tell you to "cheer up" or "snap out of it."

As a result we tend to try & pull ourselves out of it by stuffing back down whatever was bothering us.

A dangerous thing to do - and sadly one that's like to come back & bite you!

I've been doing a lot of work on myself, much of it healing work, and many of my past and present issues have been coming up. It's been a long, painful journey, but I know I'll come out the other side better for it.  I have to remind myself that it's OK to feel down sometimes.  There are times when all you want to do is scream, cry and hit pillows - and you need to go and do it!

Get the anger, frustration, sadness or whatever it is out of your system. You can't hold onto that stuff without it hurting yourself on some level, so let it out. 

Many of the spiritual schools of thought teach that harmful emotions when held onto, manifest as physical problems in the body such as injury and illness. Even medical doctors concede that mental state has a lot to do with your health.

Buddhist teacher Tara Brach suggests that when you have these "bad emotions" to recognise and  name them, i.e. anger, frustration, sadness, and allow yourself to feel them fully, and they will  pass quicker.

Children have no problems expressing their emotions, toddlers are perfect examples of how to release them. They'll have a tantrum and a few minutes later will be happily playing with their toys again!

Now, I'm not advocating that you go and punch your neighbour in the face for annoying you, there are always appropriate ways of expressing your anger, and hurting yourself or others is not one of them.

Equally, I'd like to encourage you not to bottle it up either. Just because you succeed in "controlling" the emotion and repressing it, doesn't mean you've dealt with it, and it certainly doesn't mean it's gone.

It will just as likely come back at a later date and bite you in the proverbial!

Many of my peers who are healers or psychics believe it's somehow "un-spiritual" to feel anger or other negative emotions, and I fear that many of them repress their feelings as a result, in an attempt to appear more enlightened.

The fact is that we are all human. You can't get away from things that will make you angry or upset, and it's only natural to have and express these feelings. Even the Bible depicts that Jesus got a bit cross now and then as I recall!

Moreover, you validate the feelings of those who look up to you, and show that it's very much OK to have them. I would be very wary of any spiritual teacher who tries to tell you that anger no longer affects them, and who acts enlightened and perfect - I would almost guarantee they're living a lie!

So if you're feeling down today, it's ok. Don't be down on yourself for feeling down. Honour your feelings and don't feel bad about having them.

Let yourself feel them, and express them in a safe manner. 

When you're ready, they will go all by themselves, and the world will smile again.

:)