Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try to feel and access your emotions, you just feel numb? Do you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected? Are past hurts or unresolved issues holding you back from living your best life?
I was once there. Anxiety and emotional blocks held my well-being hostage for years!
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Before I cleared my emotional blocks, I was depressed one day and too emotional the next—easily triggered and a jumble of conflicting emotions. It wasn't until I learned emotional intelligence skills, such as emotional literacy and emotional regulation, that I found some solid ground and consistent serenity.
Removing emotional blockages can be a long process without a foundation of EQ skills. Understanding and then integrating unresolved issues is a transformative process that requires compassion, patience, and a willingness to look within.
Be encouraged—you have the power to heal and create lasting change in your life. If I did it, so can you!
Research has shown that our emotional well-being is closely linked to our physical health.
Emotional blocks act as barriers to well-being, formed from stressors, limiting beliefs, and unresolved emotional experiences that we've pushed aside or buried. These impediments to our emotional health act as energetic molasses gluing up our system. They dramatically impact our mental and physical health and prevent us from fully experiencing joy, love, and connection.
When left unaddressed, these blockages can also manifest as:
Most people want to heal; they just don't know how.
The first step is recognizing the symptoms of emotional shutdown.
The signs of emotional numbness can be both subtle and overt, impacting our daily functioning and quality of life.
You might feel detached and lack interest in life; everything feels flat—so much so that you stay home and isolate from those you care about. If you're a parent, the responsibility might feel like a burden, or your kids ask you what's wrong a lot.
Mentally, a common sign is critical thinking or harsh self-talk. Physically, you may experience stomach and digestive issues, headaches, and soreness in your shoulders or neck.
Recognizing these physical signs is helpful in uncovering the feelings underneath. Acknowledging that your emotions have been suppressed and ignored allows us to begin listening.
When thinking about clearing emotional blocks, the process can seem insurmountable, even scary. One of the reasons is the way the brain is built. Our amygdalas, small almond-like structures in the limbic brain, are always on the lookout for danger.
Once we feel emotional pain, we unconsciously devise ways never to feel it again.
Smart, right?
However, children are much more impressionable and vulnerable. When we were children, some emotional experiences WERE too much. They were overwhelming for us to handle when we were young, so the brain did what it does: found ways to avoid emotional pain.
We were completely dependent on our parents. We couldn't handle some of our traumatic experiences, so we dared not feel the pain at all. Thus, we froze, stuffed, pleased, pretended, sought approval, and laughed when we wanted to cry... the list goes on.
Yet, emotions feel overwhelming as adults because we're still experiencing them as if we are children.
But we're no longer children.
We have choices we did not have as children.
Now, we can choose to pay attention and listen to our inner truth. We can learn, grow, ask for emotional support, and learn EQ skills to master challenges.
For example, a client I coached years ago had great difficulty accepting her emotions. She was terrified of what they would reveal. And even worse, what they would ask of her!
As we worked together, she learned to let go and began to open up to her feelings. After a time, she called me excited that she had discovered the beauty in her painful feelings. She referred to their wisdom as the "beautiful darkness," revealing her real self.
There is no monster waiting to devour you.
It's worth being brave to uncover what blocks your joy and vitality.
And, of course, it is always beneficial to have an emotional intelligence coach lead you through the process and accelerate learning and healing, too.
By developing emotional intelligence and learning practical techniques to process and release stuck emotions, you can experience greater inner peace, improved health, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Are you ready?
Here are some practical and research-backed shortcuts to well-being that I've learned. They have helped me through years of burning through the thick underbrush of my childhood trauma and pain.
Mindfulness is the foundation of emotional intelligence. By practicing present-moment awareness, you can better recognize and understand your emotions as they arise.
Being mindful needs to be gentle and compassionate. Just observe. Be neutral and kind when reflecting on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Below are some daily practices you can do to turn the light on! These will increase self-awareness and awaken your brain in new ways.
Start with just 5-10 minutes a day of quiet reflection. Reserve some time just to sit comfortably and be, listening to your heart and whatever bubbles up from your emotions. Simply observe without judgment.
Make sure you won't be interrupted. Go on a walk or sit by the river. Or run a hot bath, light a candle, put on some calming music and reflect. The MOST important thing is to DO IT!
Throughout your day, stop and check in with your body. Notice areas of tension or discomfort. Do a mental scan from head to toe. As you spot tension, release it and consciously relax that part of your body.
I could find stress in my body long before I could feel what was causing it! The body holds our truth, so it's an effective and easy way to raise self-awareness.
Observe your feelings without judgment to increase emotional awareness. Simply naming the emotions as you feel them throughout your day can be soothing and increase emotional literacy. Learning to identify our emotions is the beginning of emotional intelligence.
Each evening, write down three emotions you experienced that day and reflect on what triggered the emotions, especially recurring reactions.
Ask yourself:
Next, as you get acquainted with emotions that you feel regularly, determine what action you can take to feel just a little bit better. It can be as simple as increased self-care or setting a boundary for a friend.
As you practice these actions, you'll gently uncover the hidden treasures that have been buried.
Related reading: "Awaken Your True Self and Boost Your EQ with Powerful Journaling Ideas."
Once you've identified stuck emotions, try these methods to process and release them:
EFT Tapping Technique (or Emotional Freedom Technique) combines gentle tapping on acupressure points with verbal affirmations to release emotional stress.
The National Library of Medicine studies have found that EFT tapping significantly improves physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
"Participants in the studies experienced significant decreases in pain, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Physiological indicators of health such as RHR, BP, and cortisol also significantly decreased, indicating improvement. Happiness levels increased as did immune system function."
Start small by learning about EFT and how to tap.
Next, tap for 5 minutes daily when convenient until it's a habit. When you have more time, do a more thorough EFT tapping session.
Then, add to this daily ritual other times, such as when you feel like your emotions are disproportionate to the situation. Or tap whenever negative emotions, such as anger, guilt, shame or resentment, are predominant; pay attention and find a quiet place to tap.
The more you utilize EFT, the more you'll experience the positive effects and be motivated to do it more often.
Related reading: "Turn Inward Emotional Turbulence to Inner Peace."
Increasing oxygen to our brains is a powerful way to help heal. We tend to breathe shallowly, especially when we have emotional blocks.
Utilize the power of deep breathing to increase vitality and help release pent-up stress. One effective breathing technique to try is the 4-7-8 breathing technique: inhale for 4 counts, hold for 7, and exhale for 8.
Simple but powerful!
Be gentle with yourself as you work through emotional blocks. Studies on self-compassion have been linked to greater emotional resilience and well-being.
Being compassionate and accepting yourself unconditionally is one of the best ways to open up to our emotions more readily. Building an accepting internal environment creates safety to feel more fully.
Try a few of these self-compassion exercises:
Remember, healing is not a race.
It's a commitment to listen and honor your feelings a little more each day.
And if you want to really dig in and master your emotions, we recommend the following course.
Of course, it's natural to forget and return to old ways.
It's a part of learning new ways.
Be patient with yourself. With consistent practice and self-reflection, you can remove the blocks to your emotions.
By approaching yourself with gentleness and firmness, you'll unlock the door to your True Self—your emotions are the key to that door!
Emotional fitness is Heartmanity's specialty.
Reach out to us! We'd love to support you in regaining your emotional freedom and embracing the wisdom of your emotions.