“Emotions Are Not Welcome?”

We often suppress our emotions because they are considered undesirable or unacceptable by our surroundings.

We have all heard these common phrases:

• “Do not laugh loudly; it is not decent!”
• “You are a boy; you should not cry!”
• “Behave; it is not nice to be angry!”

As a result, we often become accustomed to repressing our emotions. We develop behaviours that conceal our true feelings, and we may lose the ability to express ourselves, particularly in a healthy manner.

Emotions as a Guiding Sign

When we suppress our emotions, we may miss crucial internal messages.

Our emotions serve as indicators of our current state in comparison to our authentic state. By suppressing our emotions, we move further away from our desired state because we neglect our inner “alarm.”

Is It Difficult to Feel?

Attempting to reconnect with our emotions after adopting the habit of suppressing them can be challenging. Suppressed emotions may be intense and unprocessed because we’ve never learned how to deal with them. If we decide to unlock these emotions, we might feel overwhelmed.

The “Mentalisation” of Emotions

Since unlocking emotions can be overwhelming, we tend to develop a coping mechanism where we approach emotions from a “mental” perspective.

“Mentalisation” occurs when we gain mental insight into our emotions, recognizing and describing them without truly experiencing them. We behave more like outside observers. We can mentally pretend that we don’t feel, but our bodies still go through the emotional process. If we’ve adopted a practice of dissociating from our emotions, it’s important to relearn how to feel and express emotions, whether they are difficult or pleasant.

While staying in the mental space may feel easier and “safer,” it doesn’t allow for effective emotional transformation. It’s essential to distinguish between “mentalisation” and genuine emotional experiences. When we realize we’re operating from a mental space, we must remind ourselves to return to experiencing emotions through our bodies. With practice, the difference between “mentalisation” and genuine emotional experiences becomes clearer.

The Paradox-x Process for Feeling and Transforming Emotions

In the Paradox-x process, we encourage experiencing emotions, which ultimately facilitates the transformation of difficult emotions into more pleasant ones. While feeling emotions, we may need to cry, express anger, or vent our emotions. After the initial surge of emotions, if we permit their expression and remain present with them, they tend to calm down. What we need is to be present with our emotions and allow them to flow.

Although the ability to feel emotions is vital for the introspection process, it is not the final step in the transformation process. Our emotions serve as a guiding sign of where we stand in relation to our desired state. If our emotions are difficult, it signals a need for a change in our behaviour and course of action. Paradox-x tools enable us to identify the necessary changes and adopt new behaviours and virtues to align with our true and desired path.

The Paradox-x Seminar, “Feeling Emotions,” offers a comprehensive methodology for identifying and transforming emotions. If you’re interested in delving deeper into understanding how to experience emotions more profoundly and transform difficult emotions into fulfilling states, this seminar is for you. For more details on the “Feeling Emotions” seminar, please click here.