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Old Nov 07, 2011, 02:19 PM
Anonymous32477
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mcl6136 View Post
I just cringe when I hear therapists using this kind of prefabricated babble that gets passed around...a one-sized fits all approach. Sit with your feelings. Why? Aren't we obese enough already.
That's interesting. I have never interpreted "sit with your feelings" as literally sitting, or sedentary, or as a cause of obesity. I thought it meant doing the opposite of running away (also not literal!) from your feelings, or dissociating from them. You could call it "be with your feelings" or even "feeling your feelings" or something else like that.

It's okay to do things to "contain" your feelings until you have time/space/energy/support to deal with them. That's not dissociating from them. For me, this is usually a step on the way to "sitting" with them.

I thought Pema Chodron really put it well in her book, Taking the Leap. She says:

"There is a formal practice for learning to stay with the energy of uncomfortable emotions—a practice for transmuting the poison of negative emotions into wisdom."

. . . . . .

"1. Acknowledge you’re hooked (with humor, if possible).
2. Pause, take three conscious breaths, and lean in to the energy (with kindness, if possible).
3. Relax and move on."

This is how I would define "sitting with your feelings." I sometimes do sit when I'm practicing this, but othertimes I am swimming, walking, doing yard work, etc.

Anne