This week I finally was able to get back into some in-person sessions with my therapist! Man I have missed it.

But in my session this week I was telling my therapist about some anxiety I was feeling with some work things. How it was bringing up different emotions at different times and I was struggling with how to best handle it.

After expressing how the anxiety was making me feel he gave me some great advice.

He told me I was focused too much in my head and not enough in my heart. He said as soon as the anxiety hit, I was trying to solve it or rationalize it. To work through it right away.

So he challenged me.

He challenged me to stop and feel the emotion. Don’t rationalize it. Don’t solve it. Just feel it.

Let yourself embrace whatever emotion it’s bringing up. Then after you’ve had time to just allow your body to feel it, then you can begin to process.

So we practiced in the session. And I admit it took me three times to actually tear down a wall enough to allow myself to feel it. But when I did, I saw the difference.

I watched my body relax. I felt the tension release a little. I saw my tone change. It was wild.

I still don’t have it down. I still have to practice every time. But I’m trying something new and I can already feel it making a difference.

We all carry stress and anxiety differently. But instead of jumping right into solutions, what if we took just a minute to stop, breathe, and feel?