I read this wonderful excerpt the other day and wanted to share here, as it offers something very helpful when dealing with anxiety, fear, or insert any other emotion us TMSers prefer to deny. This is from author Elizabeth Hamilton, book called Untrain Your Parrot. I've not read the book.
"A key point in working with fear is to keep asking a fundamental question: "What is this?" The question is not: "What is this about?" which leads to historical rehashes. The answer to "What is this" is always physical. For instance, let's say we're afraid a new acquaintance is going to write us off. Rather than withdrawing or turning on the charm, we take a few moments to feel our clenched neck and shaky hands and stay engaged in whatever is going on."
I'd like to add, when I find myself physically experiencing negative emotions--not preventing them or judging them--they pass through me much more quickly. I believe analysis is critical to understand how we continue and often propogate behavior and patterns in our lives that contribute to emotional dishonesty (and thus TMS), but once we've looked at these patterns, taken great steps to change, and are living with better balance and harmony, then we need to move through unpleasant emotions to get to the other side of them.
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"Feeling will get you closer to the truth of who you are than thinking."
~ Eckhart Tolle
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Experiencing Fear
Posted - 04/24/2008 : 20:03:54
