Taking care of ourselves goes beyond eating healthy foods and making time for exercise. It also includes creating space for our minds and hearts to process feelings and emotions, things that we can’t see, but impact our lives in deep and intense ways. Our local experts agree that holding negative energy inside and repressing our emotions wreaks havoc on all levels—physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

“Feelings and emotions are energy. Stuffing them and not expressing them can lead to somaticizing them,” explains Sharon Muzio, RN, BCTMB, owner of Alta View Wellness Center, in Harrisburg. “This can lead to physical manifestations of ‘dis-ease’. For example, not crying or expressing grief can lead to physical issues with the physiology of the lungs. Not speaking our truth can lead to throat issues. Anger that is not processed can lead to depression.”

She believes, “When we dismiss how we feel, we do not process the energy of those feelings in healthy ways. Honoring our emotions by expressing them in safe and healthy ways helps us maintain balance in our mind, body and soul.”

“As human beings, gut and knowing feelings are often our navigational tools, while emotions are energies that come and go as we experience life and feel/release them,” explains Sharon Askey, owner of Gracefull Heart, in Carlisle. Sometimes when we are overwhelmed with emotions, our feelings (navigational tools) become obscured.

“It is so important for us to be gentle with ourselves and allow ourselves to acknowledge and express the emotions that we experience, no matter what that looks like. When we feel overwhelmed by emotion, there are many simple tools that can help,” she shares. “Journal regularly with no judgement or censorship; it does not have to make sense to the logical mind, and it does not have to be nice or pretty. Spend time in nature and ground with the earth. Take Himalayan sea salt baths to help clear the energy field. Wear/carry crystals that can assist.”

Askey suggests, “Talk with someone who is a good listener and can affirm what is being expressed. Do something or participate in something that you truly love. Express using an artistic medium such as painting, sculpture, dance, etc. Emotions are not linear, and often have a logic of their own, so it is essential for us to be gentle, patient and nonjudgmental with ourselves as we work with these energies.”

“Emotions are e-motion—energy in motion. At Unity of Harrisburg, we teach that it is important to honor the emotions as we are experiencing them,” declares Reverend Dan Landis, senior minister and spiritual coach. “It is detrimental to our well-being to try and deny or suppress them. It is much healthier to personally detach from the emotions by recognizing them as, ‘It feels like anxiety,’ versus, ‘I am anxious.’ We can honor the feelings while not making them part of our being. This works for any emotion that we do not want in our lives.”

He notes, “The next step is to release the emotions. We do that by sitting in silence, breathing deeply and rhythmically and saying to ourselves, ‘I release all feelings of anxiety,’ slowly repeating this statement of release as we feel the anxiety leave our being.

“Once we have released the anxiety, it is now time to install what we want. Sitting and breathing, we begin to say to ourself, ‘I feel peaceful and calm.’ Again, repeating this until we totally feel it. It helps to be able to visualize being someone where what you ‘see’ matches your desire and enhances the positive feeling. The ‘hidden power’ is to be able to clear out the old, then see and feel the new, and to always remember that we are the masters of our emotions.”

Resources

Alta View Wellness Center, 4814 Jonestown Rd., Harrisburg, 717-221-0133, AltaViewWellness.com 

Gracefull Heart, 1953 W. Trindle Rd., Ste. C, Carlisle, 717-287-0937, [email protected], Gracefull-Heart.com

Unity of Harrisburg, 927 Wertzville Rd., Enola, 717-732-9773, UnityOfHarrisburg.org