Processing Intense Emotions

Staying clear enough to channel large amounts of light into the world involves knowing how to process intense emotions so that they don’t get stuck inside.

A friend shared a story with me about how he did this that I want to pass along.

He was driving and realized that he needed to turn left to get to his destination. He quickly turned on his blinker and tried to change lanes. The big truck next to him wouldn’t let him in. My friend missed his turn and decided to speed up and cut in front of the truck in order to make the next left so he could turn around. The driver of the truck laid on the horn and flipped him off as he sped past.

My friend acknowledged that the decision to cut in front of this driver was questionable, but nevertheless was bothered by the other driver’s aggression for the rest of the day. He said he was “obsessing” and couldn’t stop thinking about it. Eventually he realized that he needed to feel in order to stop thinking.

He became quiet inside and asked, “What am I feeling.” He immediately sensed anger. He then asked, “Where is it in my body?” He was able to feel it in his solar plexus or abdomen. As he dove into the raging sea of anger, he had a vision of reaching out and strangling the other driver. He continued to breathe and feel the fury inside. Within moments the anger dissipated and my friend was able to let the incident go.

Does this sound pleasant? Actually, I think I would prefer swimming with several hundred starving sharks, but the wisdom in this approach is that he not only released the pent up anger from the driving incident, but a big chunk from somewhere in his past that the other driver – gift that he was – activated.

Feeling intense emotions is uncomfortable to say the least, but only lasts a few minutes, whereas repressing them blocks our spirit and causes us to slowly suffocate. Kudos my friend, you are now one step closer to inner freedom.

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