Episode 124: The 2 Biggest Fears About Feeling Your Feelings

Here is a common scenario in my world: I had a lot to get done – back to back client meetings and deadlines looming. My anxiety was through the roof! I kept telling myself, “you need to acknowledge your feeling,” knowing that it helps when I am stuck in anxiety. But it wasn’t working. I kept coming up sad and overwhelmed. No matter how many times I tried I wasn’t getting any relief. At the end of the day – meetings over, deadlines met – I was still spinning with anxiety. I realized I had gone through the whole day without really feeling anything. Every time I had gone through the motions of naming my emotions they were quickly hijacked by my Monger saying, “Feeling sad is a waste of time. You don’t have time for this nonsense. Move on and focus!” This is a common experience for many of my clients. We shame ourselves for feeling our feelings. We tell ourselves that we don’t have enough time for them. That we won’t get anything done by feeling things. Or, worse, we fear that allowing ourselves to experience our emotions would open up a bottomless pit of despair that we would never be able to find our way out of.  In today’s episode, I want to dive a little deeper into the F word. I talk about Acknowledge your Feelings as a key part of reducing anxiety. In episode 119 I introduced the topic, but today I want to dive a little deeper and answer some of the questions that I receive from clients and listeners about feelings.  Feelings are a big part of my coping strategy around my anxiety. Allowing my feelings and facing them has been a game-changer for me. I KNOW the fear that doing this will open the flood gates, that all the feelings will come out and overwhelm. So, in this episode, I address some common fears about acknowledging your feelings.  Listen to the full episode to hear: How to allow your feeling even when you are afraid that it will lead to overwhelming despair  How to acknowledge your feeling when it seems like that will just add to the stress you are already experiencing How our feeling don’t just go away if we ignore them but will show up in other places  How acknowledging our feelings isn't something you have to DO because it is something your body naturally does – you just have to give yourself permission. Links: Episode 119 Coach in Your Pocket Live Happier Website --- Helping people with High Functioning Anxiety is a personal mission for me. I have a special place in my heart for this struggle because it’s both something I dealt with unknowingly for years, and because it silently affects so many peoplVisit: https://NancyJaneSmith.comLearn More About Self Loyalty School: https://selfloyaltyschool.com