How to Sit With Your Feelings: A Therapist’s Guide to Processing Emotions
Why Sitting With Your Emotions Matters
In today’s fast paced world, many of us try to push our emotions aside or distract ourselves. Although this may work short term, ignoring our feelings doesn’t actually make them go away, it makes them build up, which can lead to tension in the body, overwhelm, burnout, or feeling disconnected from yourself. Learning how to sit with your emotions can help you to regulate your nervous system, improve self awareness, and foster healing and growth.
Here are a few steps that you can take to practice emotional regulation and process feelings in a healthier way:
Take a moment to stop what you are doing and allow yourself to pause and notice
Name the emotion (using a feelings wheel can help)
Avoid labeling your feelings as “good” or “bad'“
Give yourself permission to feel without trying to “solve it” or make the feeling go away
Tune into sensations in your body
Explore the feeling by asking it where it’s coming from and what it’s telling you
Remind yourself that feelings are natural responses
Take a break if needed: step way, stretch, ground yourself
Giving time for your emotions and working through them is a positive step towards healing. The more that you practice, the more you’ll build emotional resilience, compassion, and self-trust.
If you’d like support in learning how to regulate emotions, therapy can provide a safe and nonjudgmental space to explore what you’re feeling.
