Allowing Feelings

Allowance is bringing your emotional experience into conscious awareness. This is the process of allowing yourself to be aware of your feelings. Allowance is the starting point, where you begin to examine yourself. Try the following emotional inquiry. The premise of this exercise is simple: if you are sad, mad, uncomfortable, or in pain, allow yourself to feel it.   Begin by giving yourself your full attention. Giving yourself your attention is the basis of healing, and to heal something inside yourself is the real purpose of Emotional Yoga.   Step 1 — As you give yourself your full attention, become aware of what you feel, as though you are shining a light on yourself. Continue by asking yourself this:       —What am I feeling? or… What am I thinking? or…What did I just do? Step 2 — Use your awareness to identify what you feel. Tell yourself this:       —I am happy because…I am uncomfortable because…I feel some sadness because… Step 3 — Identify what you are experiencing in the present moment. This time, make no references to the reasons for your feelings. Let go of the “why.” Simply say to yourself this:       —I feel pain. or… I feel anxious. or… I feel frustrated. or …I feel pleasure. Step 4 — Now, allow it. Accept what you are feeling as your experience right now. Do not resist it. Allow it to continue as long as it needs to. If your feelings begin to change, let them change. Step 5 — Breathe with it. Consciously begin to breathe, and at the same time, keep feeling what you are feeling. Gently deepen your breath for a minute or so. Just stay with your breath. Step 6 — After awhile, feel the emotion come to a place of balance on its own. What you feel now may be slightly different from when you started. Perhaps you feel a little peace, some contentment, or connection with yourself. Continue to stay with what you are feeling now. Step 7 — Settle it. Simply place your attention on your heart and feel this moment as it is. It’s something that you know, like coming back home. Have a feeling awareness within your entire body as a whole. Just effortlessly keep your attention in your body. That’s it. You can do this process anywhere, anytime, and it only takes a few minutes. Spend as much time on it as you wish, depending on the circumstances and how deeply you want to go. Feel it, and you will feel released. What you are feeling isn’t what’s making you suffer; it’s what you are not feeling. In every moment you have the time to feel, in every feeling you have the chance to heal, and in every person there is the power to feel it.