Emotional Awareness Supports Our Relationships

Is this easy? Hell no, as Brene would say. It goes against our wiring, especially if we have a trauma history; the impulse to get away can be overpowering. The power is ‘in the pause’. When we can pause and ask, “What is going on here?” Then we take ourselves out of the intensity of the conflict and rise above it to get more perspective and allow ourselves to get curious.

This allows the temperature to drop, and it will enable both people to check in with what is really going on for them. It might sound like.

“I know I sound furious right now, and part of me is, but a bigger part of me is feeling sad and unloved. What I need right now is a hug”.

To do this, we need to contact our emotions and the layers of emotion that exist. If feelings can feel a bit hard for you, it can be easier to focus on four raw emotions and check-in with yourself about which one you are feeling at any moment; glad, sad, mad, or scared.

It is interesting to reflect on your default emotions and what might be sitting under that default. For me, my default is mad. When I am expressing anger, I feel more powerful and put boundaries in place, and it helps me feel safe. What is usually under it is sad. But for me, sad is a powerless and unsafe place, so it often takes me time to touch it. I block it with mad.

The work for me is in the moment to feel my anger, the power of it in my body and my mind. To pause, and be with the rage to acknowledge it, then be curious about what is under the anger. When the sadness comes, I name it internally and externally, naming what I feel sad about and what I might need at that moment and going forward. Sometimes when you are flooded, you can’t think of what you need in the moment, and that is okay. Come back later to that discussion once you have been able to turn your frontal cortex back on and let the other person know for next time what you needed in the moment and what you need going forward.

Much love on your healing journey

Jen