A Guide to Feeling your Feelings

Creating a healthy relationship with both yourself and food forces you to experience many emotions, some that may feel difficult to manage. Of course it is important to feel your feelings. Without sadness, you cannot know joy. Pushing them down and ignoring them will only cause more pain. You need to be able to live your life and function, not be incapacitated by the many feelings that you encounter on a daily basis.

Being able to feel feelings is easier said than done, especially if you were never taught how. 

Here are some strategies that will help.

1. Validate your Feeling

Validation is about accepting your feelings without rejecting, ignoring, or dismissing them. You’re telling yourself that your feelings are okay, as all feelings are. 

2. Sit with your Feeling

It may be more difficult to sit with some feelings than others. Slowing down, sitting, and breathing, can allow you to recognize and evaluate your emotions. This gives you the opportunity to better understand what you’re feeling. 

3. Practice Mindfulness

Being mindful of your feelings means realizing that your feelings are not good or bad, they just are. When you label feelings this affects the way you experience them, may that be for the better or worse. Mindfulness helps you notice your emotions and the physical sensations that often come with them. You can practice mindfulness by meditating or by doing a body scan exercise. 

4. Try some Self-Compassion

Judging your emotions and getting upset with yourself for feeling a certain way can make you feel even worse. Be kind to yourself. If you saw a beloved friend or family member struggling with a difficult emotion would you judge them and make them feel bad for experiencing a human emotion? Probably not. Try to treat yourself as you would a loved one. 

5. Reach out to Others

Talk to someone about your feelings. Do you have a close friend that will listen without judgment? A family member that you trust? Maybe a therapist who you feel secure with? Make a list of these people in your mind right now so you can use it when you need it.

Emotions don’t last forever, they will pass. Learning how to feel your feelings takes time, practice, and patience. It’s time to give yourself some grace. 

Want more support? Sign up for the Breaking Up with Sugar Course! A 6-module online course that will help you break up with Sugar and heal your relationship with food. Also, check out Molly’s youtube channel and subscribe to the Sunday Love Letter to get support, information, and motivation on your journey to create a loving relationship with food.

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