Life’s not perfect and so have never we been perfect. We have all been through difficult emotions, in difficult situations at some point of time in our lives. Emotions such as anger, resentment, guilt, shame, regret, loneliness and disappointment arise out of bitter experiences and often hinder our growth as fully functional human beings if left unaddressed. These negative emotions create a spiral of negativity and rob us of our inner mojo. So the next question is how to heal yourself emotionally?
To address our emotional baggage, the starting point must be to acknowledge that there is one! And this is the first step to healing yourself emotionally. Suppressed, repressed and somewhere deep down in our consciousness these emotions create a dissonance in our thoughts, actions and behaviour. Once acknowledged, commit yourself to working through your inner conflict.
Imagine a scenario where you by chance bumped into your former self. What would you tell them? The scenario isn’t as unlikely as it seems to be as the whole idea is to go back in time to have a rendezvous with your past self and understand their deep underlying needs, motivations, aspirations, fears and insecurities. What this exercise will unravel to you will be some of your own emotional turmoil and the deep underlying reasons behind it. So let’s start this easy 5 steps introspective exercise.
How to Heal Yourself Emotionally- 5 Steps to Healing Yourself Emotionally
Many of you often keep wondering about how to heal yourself emotionally. I will share what worked for me and helped me heal myself emotionally. Here are the steps to healing yourself emotionally and mentally:
1. Recreate a situation from your past
Close your eyes and recreate a situation from your past which left you traumatised or emotionally wounded.
2. Let your present self console your former self
Now imagine there are two of you, your current self and your former self, face-to-face like two individuals. And your current self is consoling your former self as though you empathise and understand their pain and agony. Imagine yourself to be in a position of an empathetic counsellor or a benevolent friend who can understand the trauma your former self is going through and the underlying reasons behind that.
3. Embrace your former self wholeheartedly
Imagine your former self confiding in you all their deep-seated troubles as though you are the only one who can resolve them. Let your current self pledge to protect your former self, almost like cocooning the inner child inside of you. Embrace your former self wholeheartedly. Accept them with all their flaws, frailties and fears. Stand by them. Validate their needs. Embrace your past persona wholly without rebuke, judgement or prejudices.
Click here to find out if you are carrying a wounded inner child within?
4. Let your current self be the protective armour
Visualize hugging and comforting your former self as though you were telling them that you will do everything possible to protect them from anything that’s not right for their physical and emotional wellbeing. Promise that you will stand up for their emotions and needs, that you will not let them be so vulnerable again and that you will be their protective armour. Promise them to be their friend, philosopher and guide.
5. Touch yourself & let the feeling of healing seep in
Open your eyes and try to observe your feelings and emotions. You will feel a sense of relief that you achieved by acknowledging your emotional blockages and seeing your current self shower the act of kindness towards your former self. You will feel healed, soothed and comforted as though you unburdened yourself from the baggage of your past. The inner child of yours shall feel at ease.
Remember to also touch yourself with your hand while healing yourself. Give yourself a warm, kind healing touch on the parts of your body which are in pain, as emotional pain manifests itself in form of physiological pain many times, so the healing must be on all levels.
Lastly, remember to always give yourself first-aid before rendering care to others (click here on the link to find out why putting yourself before others is not selfish). There is no better person to tender emotional first aid to you than yourself. When you repeat this exercise a few times with yourself, you will find parts of you healing and your current self developing into a psychologically healthy individual.
This simple exercise can help you shower towards yourself much needed self-care, self-love, self-acceptance and self-compassion (click on the link to know 10 holistic self-care practices to heal yourself). The idea is to travel back in time and create a psychologically safe place for you to express your emotions as you empathise with your own selves. You shall feel a sense of relief as the process disentangles the emotional knots that got pushed down in the unfrequented corners of your body, mind and soul through the years.
When you do try these steps for healing yourself emotionally, do not forget to share your feedback with us on how it made you feel.
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