{"id":289625,"date":"2025-06-12T06:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T06:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/the-art-of-feeling-how-to-process-feelings-and-emotions-fully\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T06:57:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T06:57:48","slug":"the-art-of-feeling-how-to-process-feelings-and-emotions-fully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=289625","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Feeling: How to Process Feelings and Emotions Fully"},"content":{"rendered":"


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We spend most of our lives running away from uncomfortable feelings.<\/p>\n

Yet the suffering is not from the feelings themselves, but from the resistance to them.<\/p>\n

When you are ready to truly feel what you\u2019ve been avoiding, it can open the door to new insights and peace.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re on the path of waking up<\/a>, learning how to process feelings and emotions fully is essential, if you want to move from intellectual to embodied awakening.<\/p>\n

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Please note that in this article I\u2019m using the words feelings and emotions interchangeably.<\/p>\n

What Does it Mean to Process?<\/h2>\n

To process is to fully experience. It\u2019s the opposite of burying or bypassing your feelings.<\/p>\n

This is simple, but not easy, because we\u2019ve lost touch with what we feel. You may not even be aware of the sensations dancing all over your body right this moment.<\/p>\n

If that is the case, you will have to reconnect to the body.<\/p>\n

When you first reconnect, you may experience discomfort and restlessness, but stick with it, and it will be replaced with a sense of being alive.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t happen after feeling everything just once. This is a practice. You return to the body over and over. Eventually it becomes natural, the way it always was.<\/p>\n

Why Should You Learn How to Feel?<\/h2>\n

Perhaps the most obvious reason is that suppressing feelings doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

When you begin to feel fully, you realize that there\u2019s nothing to be afraid of. Yes, it won\u2019t feel amazing, but all things considered, it\u2019s much better than pushing feelings away.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re on the awakening path, emotional work is an essential part of that.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re inquiring into the separate self or ego and you don\u2019t seem to be making much headway, but strong emotions are coming up, then that is showing you what to explore next.<\/p>\n

Often the feeling of separateness is the avoidance of feeling, so emotional work and awakening go hand in hand.<\/p>\n

Related Article:<\/strong> What is Spiritual Awakening? (An Honest Guide)<\/a><\/p>\n

How to Process Feelings and Emotions Fully<\/h2>\n

Learning how to sit with feelings comes down to just feeling.<\/p>\n

In most cases, it\u2019s not that easy, because there is resistance and sometimes protective mechanisms in place.<\/p>\n

When we were younger, our thinking and distractions may have saved us from being overwhelmed. In that sense, they helped us. Now it\u2019s time to explore if that help is still needed.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s explore a few techniques:<\/p>\n

1. Explore<\/h2>\n

Start by getting in touch with your body.<\/p>\n

Feel what is there. Feel your hands, arms, legs, and feet.<\/p>\n

Then bring your attention to your torso, which is where most emotions and feelings seem to reside.<\/p>\n

Pay attention to how your mind wants to instantly label what is going on (fear, sadness, joy, neutral), whether you like or dislike what is there, and what it means.<\/p>\n

Instead of going into the label-game, pay attention to the sensations. Observe how the sensations constantly move. They may pulsate, undulate, shimmer, or even circle.<\/p>\n

When a feeling like sadness is labeled, it is pointing to ever-changing sensations that are constantly coming and going.<\/p>\n

The first step is to become curious about what is going on. Notice the sensations dancing in the body.<\/p>\n

2. Feel Everything<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re exploring fear in the solar plexus area.<\/p>\n

When you tune into it, maybe you notice that there\u2019s a heavy pulsing, but it also radiates outward.<\/p>\n

If you want to dive in right away, recognize where the fear is in the body, and let it expand as much as it wants. Feel everything fully. Focus on the core of the fear, and allow it to spread.<\/p>\n

In other words, instead of trying to make it go away, try go make it bigger.<\/p>\n

If you want to take a gentler approach, observe the outer parts of the fear. For example, if the fear is in the solar plexus area, the outside edge might reach the heart. Instead of diving into the most intense part of the fear, start by feeling the edge first.<\/p>\n

As the intensity lessens, move toward the center of the fear until you\u2019re feeling it fully.<\/p>\n

3. Resistance<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s highly likely that you will resist this process when you begin.<\/p>\n

You may find yourself caught in thinking or fantasizing about what you\u2019re going to do next.<\/p>\n

This is to be expected so don\u2019t beat yourself up if it occurs. Simply return to feeling.<\/p>\n

Note any resistance, and include it in the feeling. Welcome the feeling of resistance and the thought associated with it.<\/p>\n

Be aware of distractions. Anything that takes you away from the feeling is likely a distraction.<\/p>\n

Remember, it\u2019s not enough to do this once. Keep welcoming the repeating resistance. If there\u2019s resistance to the resistance, let that also be okay.<\/p>\n

4. Distancing<\/h2>\n

You may also notice a pull to distance yourself from feeling.<\/p>\n

This can arise in the form of labeling, judging, evaluating, or even taking the subtle position of a feeler feeling something.<\/p>\n

Whenever you notice a pulling away, return back to feeling everything.<\/p>\n

For example, if you notice the thought \u201cI can\u2019t take this,\u201d become aware that it is a distraction from fully feeling and the resistance itself is what is creating the suffering.<\/p>\n

Welcome that thought, feel it fully, and feel the original sensations (fear in this case).<\/p>\n

A Note on Distancing<\/h2>\n

There is a place for labeling emotions if they are too intense. This is what is done in Vipassana.<\/p>\n

For example, you can keep it simple by sticking to three labels: image (internal visual), talk (internal sound), and feel (sensation).<\/p>\n

It might look something like this:<\/p>\n