A few days ago, I shared a ‘Mindful Emotions and Feelings Meditation’ from Ruby Wax’s book, ‘Frazzled.’
One of the key parts that I took away from this personally, was the idea that you could speak to recurring negative emotions as if they were old friends.
Throughout my life I’ve fought against my shyness, depression and anxiety. I’ve fought against my fears.
And has it ever worked? No. Of course it hasn’t.
In fact, it’s made things worse. The more I fought; the more I stumbled.
After a while, I was forced to admit: I’d become afraid of being afraid.
When you reach this point, there’s pretty much no avenue left other than surrender.
And speaking to feelings like anxiety as a friend, rather than an enemy, can actually provide some much-needed comfort when you really need it.
“Hello my old mate!”
“Oh I see you’re back again!”
“I know you’re scared, but it’s going to be OK.”
You might be sectioned if you do this in public; it’s probably better to do this in your head.
At the end of the day, fighting your feelings will only make them stronger. Befriending it, takes the power away and changes your relationship.
For me, anxiety is something that I’ve lived with every day since my early teens and maybe even before then.
It’s probably the longest relationship I’ve ever maintained.
And it’s part of me.
Not to mention the fact that it works so hard every single day to protect me and keep me safe from harm.
Would this work for you? Have you been fighting against something that you’d be better befriending? Thoughts welcome:
