Ever have one of those days that you just want to scream or throw something? Everyone has stress. We all experience stressful days. Some of us have techniques to manage our daily stress and there are some of us that hold it all in. Either way, all the stress and emotions we feel throughout the day builds up within us. Substantial energy, both good and bad, sits inside until we find a way to release it. It is how we use those emotions, that energy within our minds that can heal us or destroy us.
Power of the mind
I have talked about how the power of our minds is so strong that it can push us forward or hold us back. It is like a dance where we can easily take two steps forward only to have one step back. For me, I have found that my mind didn’t know what to do with all the emotional energy I had inside. For the last month or two, I have been living my days in a numb and robotic mode. I was not sad or depressed and I was not happy either. I was faced with so many elements around me that I couldn’t figure out how to process it.
Lost Focus
I sat with my therapist this week and told her this. In describing everything I was experiencing, my emotional energy started to build up again. It was then I realized that I was shutting down. I was feeling so much that my mind couldn’t handle it and it wanted to escape it. I had no release that allowed me to focus on what I really wanted to. I lost the focus of me. Then when I was describing this to a friend, I realized that I couldn’t do that. I liked the way I was beginning to feel. I felt powerful and beautiful. I had to find a way to release to recenter.
Physical Release
Recentering your mind, especially when you are dealing with strong emotional trauma or events in your life, is very difficult to do. But it is not impossible. Mental wellness is not just an emotional balance, but there are a total of 8 dimensions of balance. One of those is a physical balance. This is not just about exercising or physical activity. But it is the balance achieved in using a physical activity (no matter how big or small) to release the built-up mental energy. Another dimension is spiritual balance (not necessarily religious). This also uses mediation and other techniques to bring your mental state and mental focus to a center being…you.
Letting it go
Ever wonder why yelling or hitting something makes you feel just a little better? Now I am not talking about hitting people, but ever go to your sofa or bed and smack your hand to your pillow? Ever throw that pillow to the floor? The activity of hitting and throwing is releasing energy you have built up. Now what about going for a walk? Maybe you would rather go to the gym? Again, this physical activity releases energy from your body…including your mind. Ever wonder why you seem to have a calmer mind when you are walking?
No one way
Physical activities are not a requirement. There are stationary techniques and activities that do the same thing. I mentioned meditation. There is also sitting at a park or lake, somewhere that you personally find peaceful. For me, I use a form of Somatic therapy to talk out loud (by myself) about some of the issues that are bothering me. It is a way for me to release the tension I am holding in. But ultimately, I am finding ways that work for me to recenter.
Release and refocus
The mind is very powerful. You may have heard of the placebo effect. Where just the thought itself of feeling better because of something you have done or a medicine you have taken can have some people feeling much better. I have people in my life that will have something good happen to them, only for them to say to me, “I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Another words, there is no acceptance of positivity in their lives as they can only envision pain and suffering. As the quote goes, “you will only see negative, if you can only see negative.” Don’t let your energy hold you back from doing great things.
Enjoy this video.
With great warmth,
