We can feel alone and exhausted when strong emotions are following us around all day long. Many of us are living with negative emotions that are overwhelming and affecting our quality of life. It is normal to push these feelings down to try to suppress and ignore them hoping they will go away but the reality is that the more we do this the stronger they become.

Imagine your emotions as a small child who wants your attention. You are working from home, you’re busy and you’re mind needs to be focused on work related things. The child knows that you are working and they want to be good and not disturb you but they are experiencing uncomfortable feelings in their body that they do not understand. It’s scary and they need you to help them figure this out and feel better.

They wait as long as they can and they know they shouldn’t try to get your attention but they can’t help but call out to you from the other room. Your busy and the tone seems ok so you pretend you haven’t heard…. A few minutes later there is a knock on the door and you call “Just give me a minute”. Ten minutes later they sneak into the room and this time they are standing quietly by your shoulder after a minute they start tugging on your sleeve. You explain calmly that you are right in the middle of some really important work but you will be with them soon. They go away as you ask but these feelings are growing and becoming more and more intense. So they go out into the kitchen and in their frustration are banging about and making a lot of noise…. Then you hear things go quiet….. until….Suddenly there are raised voices and tears in the living room as they start a fight with a sibling. There is no option left for you, you must deal with this NOW!

Our emotions are like this, we can try to contain, push them down or ignore them. This may work for a while, even years but the more we do this the stronger they develop and the closer they rise to the surface. Until something apparently small can cause floods of tears or an explosion of emotion, that makes us feel out of control, embarrassed or scared which further fuels the situation.

If we refer back to the child metaphor, I wonder in real life would you ignore a child like that?

What would have happened if we had taken a moment to stop, listen and support the child on the first, second or third request? In my experience the sooner we support a child the more likely they are to feel loved and supported and find it easier to navigate their emotions.

Even though we are adults the same is true for us. Emotions that express themselves strongly in our body and hijack our behaviors can be scary.

It can be helpful for us to understand that emotions are psycho-somatic meaning a thought can cause a strong emotional reaction in our body that is a subconscious response and not controlled by our conscious mind. Hypnotherapy and psycho-emotional techniques bridge the gap between the conscious and subconscious and help us to influence and change these behaviors.

I have taught emotional coping skills in primary school and kids find this fun and really helpful for dealing with feelings that seem stuck in their stomach, throat, head or causing disruptive behavior. Ideally the younger we learn these skills the better, however it is never too late to free ourselves from overwhelming emotions.

Even after decades it is possible to recover from trauma, anxiety, depression, panic attacks or overwhelming feelings like fear, grief or low self-esteem that are impacting on your health and quality of life.