[gma45]

How do you deal with 30 years of emotions coming to the surface?

[Elana05]

I hear you.
(I went down to the basement and broke a whole lot of old dishes!)
It is OK to be sad and it is OK to be really angry.
Just know that all of your feelings are valid.

Sending supportive thoughts.

[shezbut]

(((gma45)))

I don't know ~ I'm trying to get down to my core, to let the emotions be free. Not easy though, as they've been stuffed inside for so long. I have a very hard time allowing myself to let emotions like sadness and hurt out. Anger comes out without a problem (other than poor control!). The sadness and pain are like "forbidden" or something.

Weird. Best wishes sent your way gma45 ~ I hope that you can make it through this phase relatively easily.

[Sunna]

In a view that sees emotions not merely as figments of the mind, but also as energetic states or currents, grounding helps. A literal grounding, just like you let the lighting into the ground by the wire.

I would lie face down on the floor, become aware on the ground beneath the floor, connect to it like through imaginary roots, and let the emotions come, don't resist them, let them flow into the earth. I've done it both indoors on a floor as well as in a garden on real earth.
I would let them come, not t fight them, not analyze them, let them be, and allow them them express in a body however they may: cry, kick, jerk, whatever, just stay flat, and stay rooted, and after a while imagine them flowing by your roots into the mother.
I found that eventually they would exhaust themselves and I would find myself napping. I found sadness, grief, regret most naturally flowing downward, anger's unruly.
It doesn't remove them, but it seems to make them little mellower.

[gma45]

Thanks Sunna, I will diffidently try this, It really makes sense to me. Thank you again!

[ECHOES]

(((gma)))

Gently and with acceptance, and with gratitude that you can do this!

[Sunna]

Originally Posted by ECHOES

(((gma)))

Gently and with acceptance, and with gratitude that you can do this!

Yes, indeed. Gentleness and acceptance.

p.s. I forgot to explain most important part of to this "grounding". It is BREATH. Deep breath. When you breathe out, breathe these ragged emotions down the roots, through you belly, your heart, your palms, down into the earth, feel yourself sink in a little into mother's embrace. (Btw, while calling Earth "mother", may offend, sounding so pagan, it does not need to inerfere with any religious loyalties. It is a simple recognition, that every atom of our bodies comes from earth and returns to earth, our bodies are recycled earth-body)

[Sunna]

Oh, you know what else can be good for too many overwhelming emotions? Active release. Don't know if you watched Grey's Anatomy, but one of the doctors there, Christina, has a way of dealing with emotions: "dance it out". She'd put on a headset, or turn on a stereo let her body follow the music and dance, flail her arms, jump up and down (on a bed even sometimes). It's not graceful, or purposeful, but she does it with a complete abandon.

Like grounding, it will not make the emotions disappear, but it may help with that feeling that it's too much, that you are about to explode, or implode.

[Psychochick]

Emotions bah! I have waaayyyy too many of them and no idea how to deal with the whole sorry mess!

Everyone else has offered good and constructive advice, but I'm afraid I really have none to give.

Usually when I am feeling overwhelmed--which is more often than not!!--I either have one of my spectacularly unhelpful meltdowns or help myself to some Xanax or Ambien.
One strength I do have is my sense of humor. As long as I can hang on to that I have some hope of staying more or less sane, lol! So for me I guess the best way of coping is to watch a funny movie or read something that makes me laugh...or snorgling my kitty ...

Yeah I know. Pathetic ain't I?

At least I can send you some hugs and hope they help!!