Being With Emotion: Why 'Feeling Is More Than Enough
Let me ask you something:
When you feel overwhelmed, anxious, sad, or angry — what's your first instinct?
Maybe you try to talk yourself out of it.
Maybe you bury yourself in work, caring for others, or endless scrolling.
Maybe you feel guilty for even having those feelings in the first place.
If any of this feels familiar, you are so not alone.
Our culture teaches us that difficult emotions are problems to fix — or worse, flaws to hide.
But what if I told you the real path to healing isn't about getting rid of feelings at all?
What if the bravest thing you could do is simply be with them?
Your Feelings Aren’t the Problem — They're the Path
Gabor Maté, a physician who has spent decades working with trauma, says something that often stays with my clients:
"The attempt to escape from pain, is what creates more pain."
It’s not your feelings that hurt you most — it’s the struggle against them.
When we judge, minimize, or avoid our emotions, we unintentionally abandon ourselves.
Take a moment here:
What emotions have you been trying to push away lately?
(It's okay — just notice. No judgment.)
Your Body Already Knows
Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, reminds us that our bodies carry the stories our minds can't always speak. Trauma, grief, fear — these live inside muscles, breath, posture. Even if you’ve tried to “think your way out” of pain, your body remembers.
Pause for a second.
What is your body saying right now?
Tightness? Heat? Numbness? A flutter in your stomach?
You don't have to change anything — just notice, gently.
When we make space to listen to the body with compassion instead of trying to control it, we start to build a bridge back to ourselves.
Not by force. By kindness.
You Deserve to Feel Safe — Even With Hard Feelings
Peter Levine, the creator of Somatic Experiencing, teaches that healing from trauma happens not through re-living pain, but by slowly creating enough safety inside ourselves to feel what we once couldn't.
So I want to ask you:
Where in your life do you feel even a little bit safe right now?
Maybe it's in a quiet moment with a cup of tea.
Maybe it's in the way your dog leans against your leg.
Maybe it's right here, reading these words.
Start there.
You don’t have to force yourself to feel everything all at once.
It’s enough to be present with just one small feeling, one small moment, and to remind yourself:
"I’m allowed to feel this. I’m safe to feel this."
Feeling Into It, Not Fixing It
Let’s reframe something together:
Healing is not about eliminating emotions.
Healing is about allowing emotions to move through you — at your own pace, with your own kindness.
You are not broken because you feel sad.
You are not failing because you feel anxious.
You are not weak because you feel overwhelmed.
You are human.
You are alive.
And feeling — truly feeling — is one of the most courageous acts there is.
So if you’re sitting with sadness today, or anger, or exhaustion...
If you’re riding the waves of postnatal anxiety, or the echoes of old trauma…
Please know:
You don’t need to fix it.
You don’t need to push it away.
You just need to stay with yourself.
Gently. Tenderly. With great respect for the strength it takes to feel.
A Little Reflection
Before you close this page, if you feel comfortable, ask yourself:
What am I feeling right now?
What does this feeling need from me? (Maybe just a breath, a hand on my heart, a kind word.)
Can I offer myself the compassion I would offer a dear friend feeling this way?
There’s no right or wrong answer.
Just your truth.
And wherever you are in your healing journey — that is enough.
You are enough.
Warmly,
Celeste