Do you ever feel numb, like emotions are just out of reach? You’re not alone. Many high-achievers and deep thinkers struggle to connect with their feelings because they spend so much time in their minds rather than their hearts.
In this episode, explore:
- Why emotions get blocked and how to start feeling again
- Simple morning practices to set your emotional tone for the day
- The power of mindfulness and gratitude in reconnecting with yourself
- A personal story of grief, healing, and learning to ride emotional waves
- How childhood conditioning may have shut down your emotions—and how to reverse it
If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t feel or why emotions seem so distant, this episode will give you the clarity and tools to reconnect with yourself. Listen now and try one simple practice.
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#EmotionalHealing #Mindfulness #SelfLove #ReconnectWithYourself #InnerGrowth
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Reconnecting With Your Emotions: Simple Practices To Feel Again
You are not your emotions. That’s why you don’t say, “I am angry” or “I am sad,” but “I feel angry” or “I feel sad.” You are not your feelings. Your feelings and emotions are part of you. If you can’t connect with your own emotions, it’s because, just like most people, especially high achievers, you are too much in your head. You are critically thinking in your mind rather than your heart.
In this episode, I will share with you some basic, practical, and simple practices that I share with some of my clients who are struggling with the same issues. What I’ll share with you is so simple, even too simple that some of you might take it for granted. If you want to connect with your emotions, try it for at least 30 days to see how it will change how you feel.
Morning Practices For Emotional Awareness
The first question I always ask is, “How do you start your day? What is the connection between early morning, what you did when you woke up, and your emotions?” That’s how you want to set your day before you jump out of bed. What emotions do you want to feel in that day? What does your mind tell you? What do you feel in your body? If you want to feel happy, think about happy thoughts. The memory that makes you smile, or plan for the day that makes you feel excited. If you want to feel appreciated, start by appreciating yourself and the people around you or the things you have.
You are not your emotions. Share on XMindfulness practice will also help you to be more aware of your body and mind. As you slow down and pay attention to your body, your mind, your breathing, and your surroundings, you will be aware of your feelings and emotions. When I was in our ten-day Noble Silence meditation practice, the guru asked us, “What leg are you stepping in for the very first time when you wake up in the morning? Was it right or left leg?”
Those are silly questions. Yet, those are questions to bring awareness to mindfulness practice. Since that question, I have paid attention more to simple daily life things I do. Another simple basic morning practice is the practice of tapping into your heart. When you are awake, pay attention to your breathing. The breathing will bring you back to your body. Feel the first blessing you receive for the day, the miracle of life. Yes, you are awake, breathing, you can move your body, and you are alive. Many people take it for granted. Instead of being grateful, they start to think of the problems and the challenges, and how to overcome them.
If you get used to it, you can challenge yourself to keep adding all the other things you are grateful for. You will appreciate many things in your life, including things that you have taken for granted. Keep counting your blessings while you do that. Remember to keep paying attention to your breathing. Many asked me, “What if you still can’t feel anything?” My question is, “How do you know that you can’t feel? What was that feeling of cannot feel?” Use the moment not to judge and criticize yourself and just be in the moment. First, be grateful for the feeling of not feeling anything.
Cannot feel is also feeling. People always put aside the bad stuff and suppress the negative feelings and emotions, which is why they can’t feel happy either. Emotions are energy emotions. They need to flow so we can use it as our power. If we suppress it, then it will be trapped in our bodies and make us sick. Emotions remind us of all the things we need to pay attention to.
Emotions come and go like the weather. Just because it’s rainy season doesn’t mean that it will be raining the whole year. A content-fulfilling life doesn’t mean happy 24/7, but you know how to react to unexpected situations and interpret the meaning of each story in your journey. You are a human, not a robot. Allow yourself to feel sad or angry. You may have learned while growing up that crying means you are weak or angry is ugly.
Processing Grief And Emotional Waves
The fact is crying doesn’t always mean sad. It could be happy crying, and anger is not necessarily bad or ugly. Feeling sad today doesn’t mean that you will feel sad forever. When my father passed away in 2021, I felt that my world was crushed. I was so sad. I feel so sad. After two months, I told my mom that I couldn’t be there for her because I needed to help myself. I went to Greece. I missed my son’s tenth birthday because of the practice that I have to do. I knew that I needed to go.
There, I did 30 days of grieving practice. After the practice, I could see losing my father from a different perspective. I found a way to turn the memory into the fuel to continue my journey. Even after those practices, it doesn’t mean that I never feel sad anymore. The grieving comes and goes like the wave, but knowing how to respond and allowing it and by riding it just like the wave, you feel like you are a professional surfer.
Uncovering Childhood Conditioning Around Emotions
Reacting when the wave came was the key. The more you allow your emotions to surface, the more you can feel your emotions. If you feel numb to all the emotions and everything feels flat, first, take out your pen and paper and give yourself some time alone to ask these questions. When was the first time you felt happy? When was the very first time you felt angry, sad, fearful, ashamed, or guilty? What happened? Did someone interrupt and tell you not to be?
Maybe they said you can’t be too happy or told you to go to your room when you cry. Out of these simple questions, you might remember some forgotten stories. One of my clients suddenly remembered that when she was a little girl, they were laughing happily while playing and the grandma suddenly asked them to stop laughing because they couldn’t be too happy, otherwise something terrible would come.
The more you allow your emotions to surface, the more you can truly feel them. Share on XWhen you find out the reason why you shut your emotions down, then check-in. What you want to believe instead is that it’s okay to be so happy because you know everything will be okay after that. Remember, it’s happiness that you want to tap into first, which is why many people want to start to find one thing that will make them happy. The easiest you can do is to try to use your favorite food or activity. For me, it’s a dark chocolate that melts in my mouth. I know dark chocolate is my weakness and one source of my happiness, and exaggerate the feeling at first.
For me, I look at the dark chocolate like an innocent child seeing and tasting it for the very first time. What would she do if she knew that it was the only chocolate she had? Perhaps she will eat it super slowly, letting the chocolate slowly melt in her mouth so she can taste it longer. Think about what is in your mind, and how your body will react when you feel good. How will you breathe? How will your body move to react to it?
If chocolate is not your thing, you can start to pay attention to your meal. Maybe you have a smoothie bowl in the morning. Pay attention to its beauty and the color combination of the fruits. Feel the texture in your mouth and see how these silly practices make you feel. Are you smiling or does it trigger you? Notice, pay attention, and observe where those thoughts and feelings come from. The more you pay attention to your reaction, the better understanding you will have of your feelings and emotions. Choose one practice you would love to do. Please let me know what you chose and how the practice changed the way you feel.
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