Moving Through a Debris Field of Feelings

by Brittiney George, BS, MST, ICI, CEIM 

We are all in the middle of a tornado right now.  A pressure front full of conflicting ideas, information, and feelings—lots and lots of feelings.  

Some are picking up pieces of broken foundations; others shattered ideals. For many Hope caught on fire, and dreams may have become heavy and waterlogged.  We each are fighting to ensure that our most precious possessions (to which I might offer include Hope, Joy, Peace, and Curiosity), don’t get torn apart by the rushing rivers of Grief, Fear, Discord, Discomfort, and Worry.

It is a rare moment of time where no home has been left untouched by these storms.  When defenses are low and exhaustion is high, it is easy to lose our grip.  We can quickly get pulled from our own inner knowing into the debris field of feelings surrounding us.  

Times like this encourage us to run or numb from our feelings.  I’d offer a different approach: embrace your feelings.  Not all the feelings that are in the air around you, or on the ground beneath you are yours, so detangling yours from the debris field is important for respite in the storm.

A simple exercise I developed for myself, that many of my clients have also found helpful is name and claiming your emotions.  It is an invitation to detangle from the emotional debris outside and get a clearer sense of how to move with what your feeling on the inside.  Try it out:  

Name, Claim, and Move Emotional Exploration:

1. Start by naming every emotion you feel:  List them like bullet points.  
2. Use I feel vs. I am: listing the emotions as a feeling (I feel angry, sad, elated, relieved…vs. I am angry, I am sad), keeps it as a feeling and not a declaration or judgement of who you are as a person.
3. Name the emotion without the story:  When you don’t get swept away by the story around the emotion (the who, why, how), but instead take a moment to simply name the emotion it is easier to disentangle them.  
4. Move With or Let Move:  The body can feel multiple feelings simultaneously, but not every feeling will be asking for the same movement.  Ex. how anger wants you to move may be very different than grief.  When we are trying to move with all of them at the same time we can get stuck, frozen, or anxious because no move feels “right”.  When you name them, each emotion is validated.  For some feelings that is enough for them to move through on their own.  Then you can pick one to spend time with (maybe it is the loudest, the quietest, or the one that takes up the most space).  
5. Ask that emotion:
• what it wants
• what it needs
• and knowing both and everything else your navigating, what is the movement that is available. (This is where the body is a superstar.  There is always a move available, but it is not always the one we think.  Listening to one emotion at a time, helps that to be clearer).  

The more you practice, the easier it becomes to move with strong emotions, hear the quiet emotions asking to be nourished, and to clear the debris field so movement and connection once again feels possible.

Brittiney George, BS, MST, ICI, CEIM, is a Master Somatic Therapist, Trainer and Movement Practitioner specializing in Transformative Touch.  She is also the creator of the online comic www.thisweekwithjoy.com.  Her areas of specialty include working with highly sensitive persons (HSP’s), and helping people find movement when they feel stuck in life’s transitions.  Contact Brittiney at 610-389-7866 or movebackintolife@gmail.com.