A couple weeks ago, we talked about how avoiding accumulation of stress in the body is paramount to our health, both mental and physical.
Let’s take that concept one step further today and dive into what stress really is at its core.
And that’s resistance.
When we resist something, ANYTHING, we create a stress response in our bodies. That’s where it all starts.
So, what’s the antidote?
Tricky situations will forever be a part of our lives.
There are SO many things out of our control and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about that.
So, at this point we’ve got a couple of options:
- We can resist our circumstances and inner experience in a myriad of ways to desperately try to regain some semblance of control
OR
- We can find acceptance
Finding moments of inner acceptance is a commonly overlooked, yet very effective way to combat stress.
So, here are 3 ways to practice reducing emotional resistance (stress) that’ll help get you on your journey whether this concept is new to you or totally old hat.
1. Practice emotional awareness
The first step to reducing emotional resistance is to be aware of the emotion you’re experiencing.
So, whenever an uncomfortable feeling comes up, try to notice it.
And once you’ve noticed the feeling, try to name it.
This is emotional awareness and it turns resistance on its head.
2. Practice emotional acceptance
Denying or suppressing our emotions accumulates negative energy in our bodies.
In turn, that energy has nowhere to go unless we express it and becomes a big ol’ ball of stress.
And this is true no matter what the emotion is.
Once we start to shove an emotion down, it festers and grows; what we resist persists.
Chronic activation due to emotional resistance eventually leads to a whole range of health issues such as high blood pressure, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, and pretty much every single other stress-based condition ever.
To reverse this vicious cycle, we must accept our inner experience as it is with no judgment.
Acceptance is available to us at all times.
We just have to give ourselves permission to feel the things we’re really feeling.
My favorite way to do this is to tell myself, “What I’m feeling makes sense even if I don’t know how it makes sense yet.”
3. Give your emotions a voice
Now that we’ve named our emotions and accepted them, it’s time to find an outlet for them.
Releasing that emotional energy eliminates the accumulation of stress and puts us back in the driver’s seat of our lives instead of being overthrown by our suppressed inner world.
Whether that’s dancing, screaming into a pillow, crying, journaling, meditating, kickboxing, painting, talking things out with someone we trust, or something else, it’s up to us to find the best solution.
If I practice these three steps, what will it do for me?
Practicing these steps will decrease the emotional debt that has been stacking up for years or decades and act as a detox for your thoughts.
And that enables you to show up for yourself and your loved ones like never before.
It also puts you in alignment with the highest version of yourself and creates space for more love, joy, and fulfillment.
Here’s to giving up resistance to our inner worlds so we can thrive in a new and profound way!