Coexistence of Emotions.

Hi you. How is your heart today?

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I was listening to an episode of the"From the Heart: Conversations with Yoga Girl" podcast this afternoon, and something Rachel spoke resonated insanely deeply within me. (Side note- this woman is incredible, and will be highlighted soon on the Women Who Inspire Me page of the site). Rachel was speaking on how we, as humans, when asked the question of: "how are you?", need to allow ourselves to have an "and" answer. In other words, rather than feeling that we must "choose" one singular emotion (feeling sad OR joyful, feeling overwhelmed OR at peace), we need to allow ourselves to feel an emotion as well as another.

We are able to hold multiple feelings within us simultaneously.

This is always something important to keep in mind, but especially right now, as we endure this strange, chaotic, season of unknowns.

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Listening to this episode hit me right in the chest, because I've been navigating this exact practice. I'll be on the phone with friends, or talking with my family, and I'll be asked how I'm doing, and I'm beginning to find that my response oftentimes doesn't feel quite right. In that moment that I'm on the call, I may be feeling joyful and grounded, whereas just that morning, maybe I was a ball of worry, or irritable like no other. One simple answer didn't feel like the full answer as to how I'm feeling. So this affirmation that, as humans, we're 100% allowed to: #1) feel all the things. All of them. Even the messy things! And #2) feel all the things all at once was so valuable to me.

You are allowed to feel fearful while also feeling peaceful.

You are allowed to grieve while also feeling content.

You are allowed to feel confused while also feeling grounded.

You are allowed to feel pain while simultaneously feeling joy.

Humans are complex; and we should treat ourselves as such.

There is no "correct" way to grieve and process. Especially not a mountain such as this. This pandemic is something none of us could have predicted, and still choosing to wake up each day, and go in again, regardless of what you accomplish is p-o-w-e-r-f-u-l. Beyond words.

My quarantine season is going to look different than yours. And yours is going to look different than the other peoples' who also read this blog. And that is beautiful. So intensely beautiful. Why? Because it proves my exact point: we're all experiencing this as WE, individually need to, based on our own unique season and processes. We're all feeling these similar, yet vastly unique ranges of emotions, and we're all processing it in our own unique ways as well. There is no "right" way to feel during this time. There is no "right" way to handle this time.

Feel! What! You! Need! To! Feel!

Lean in.

Give it space.

And then let it go. Move your body. Or just breathe. In and out. Shake your fingertips. Close your eyes. Bring yourself back to what matters: your breath.

Remind yourself how far you've come.

You are handling this time as best you can!

Keep believing. Keep hoping. And keep.Going.

We will emerge this season a stronger version of ourselves. A wiser version. A more aware + in-tune version.

And for now, we must tune in. We need to allow all emotions our soul needs to express to freely flow out of us.

Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow.

Keep your head up, strong soul.

X

-j