The Gentle Art of Feeling Your Feeling

Have you ever been told, “Just feel your feelings,” only to wonder—but how? It turns out this can be one of the most challenging yet healing skills we rarely learn. We're often taught to push emotions aside, keep moving, or “stay strong.” But learning to notice, sit with, and name our emotions is where real healing begins.

1. Slow Down and Notice

Start by tuning into your body—your breath, your chest, your belly. Even a few moments of mindful attention can reveal the emotion hiding behind tension, restlessness, or fatigue.

2. Name What You’re Feeling

Giving language to your emotion helps regulate it. Try naming it: sad, frustrated, anxious, scared, relieved, lonely, hopeful. The more precise your emotional vocabulary, the more clarity you gain.

3. Hold It Gently

You don’t need to fix or analyze your emotions right away. Just sit with them. Picture it like letting a wave rise and fall, instead of swimming against it.

4. Let It Shift

Emotions are designed to move. When we allow them to exist without resistance, they tend to pass more quickly and with less intensity.

Try This:

• Use a Feelings Wheel to find the most accurate word for what you're feeling.

• Mini Check-In: Pause for 60 seconds. Where do you feel tension? What’s the emotion underneath?

• Pendulation: Gently move between focusing on a strong emotion and then returning to a neutral body sensation like the breath or your feet on the floor.