“Feelings Are Like Fluid Waves Of Energy…Like The Ebb And Flow Of Tides, The Waning And Waxing Of The Moon” – Anita Johnson

“Feelings are like fluid waves of energy. Like the waves we see in the ocean, they come in, peak, and pass, come in, peak, and pass. They have a natural cyclical rhythm like the ebb and flow of tides, the waning and waxing of the moon. The flow of feeling is as natural as the flow of life itself.”

From “Eating In The Light Of The Moon: How Women Can Transform Their Relationship With Food Through Myths, Metaphors, And Storytelling” by Anita Johnson

Twenty Years Later: “I Feel Your Pain…But Not My Own”

By Jennifer Miller

The year 2012 will be remembered for many important events and  happenings. Two of the biggest are the London Olympics and our own Presidential Election on November 6. But 2012 is also significant in that it has been 20 years since President Bill Clinton made his famous statement in March 1992:

“I feel your pain.”

While it is very difficult to feel another person’s pain, or suffering, unless you have “walked in their shoes”, we can all feel our own emotions, including pain. But why is it that so few people are actually able or willing to feel real emotions?

Do the activities and distractions in our lives numb our inner feelings?

Is it our culture of overconsumption, where we overeat and overspend, and in the extreme, abuse alcohol and drugs?

People are often afraid to go inward and truly connect with their real, raw emotions. It exposes us and makes us vulnerable…but also makes us more authentic. And humble. Getting to the real cause of personal pain and anger can often involve nothing more that looking at ourselves as we are now, not at who we were in the past. We are not that person any more. Forgive that person or move on from that person. Benefit from the often humorous process of “observing yourself” at this very time in your life. I often feel like a stand-up comic,  with an audience of “none” as I go inward and self-reflect. But it makes me aware of the moment.

I am one with my espresso coffee machine in the morning. I am one with my two dogs while I walk them. I am one with my cutting board as I prepare vegetables for cooking.

Do I feel like saying “enough already” and want to rejoin the noisy fray? Sometimes. But to go inward is so much more rewarding. I connect with my inner feelings and shower them with positive reflections. This can often produce the little miracles and happy endings that make life worth living.

Namaste, Jennifer Miller

“To Feel The Other Side Of Darkness…Is Light” By Jennifer Miller

Picture in your mind’s eye when you were a child; a beautiful time in your life. How old were you? What are you wearing?

How did you feel?

"...the other side of darkness...is light."

What were you doing?

Keep this picture with you when your mind starts to go to the dark place…and bring in the light of the young child.

Ask the child: What do you need?

 Listen and allow yourself to feel any emotions that surface. I like to place my hand on my heart and allow my feelings to flow. I have learned to mother myself and “be” with the moments of sadness.

The only way out is to feel within our bodies all the repressed emotions that need to surface.

 Allowing, accepting, and feeling the other side of darkness.… is light.

Namaste, Jennifer Miller