The dictionary defines feelings as ‘an intuitive awareness’. Over the last three years, I have been working with the body through massage. During this time, I have become aware that so many people have blocked their ability to feel! We think that we are feeling, however what we are really doing is, perceiving. The dictionary defines perception as ‘the representation of what is perceived; basic component in the formation of a concept’.
Feeling just is – it is neither positive nor negative; it just is….perception is then formed. There is such a fine difference between feeling and perception, but it can make all the difference! Feeling is of the present moment and only for the present moment, as the feeling is gone, so is the pain or the pleasure. What remains is the intuitive awareness. Awareness is not lost, for you cannot ‘unknow’ something! The experience of the pain or the pleasure is a part of who you are. The dictionary defines experience as “personal trial, continued observation, trial by and knowledge from suffering or enjoyment.”
Experience builds your inner knowing, by observation and understanding. Perception on the other hand relies on past experience, this is also necessary, but needs to change as we change…..What you perceive today may be different tomorrow as you become aware of more. What you perceived as a child, is different to your perceptions as an adult.
The choice is yours, to carry as ‘lead’ the pain of the experience (utterly exhausting!) or to transform into wisdom (gold) the experience itself. The transformation occurs through letting go of the feeling of ‘pain’ through understanding and observation.
“What goes up must come down”. It is impossible to ‘feel good; all the time. Today’s society has made this fact very hard to deal with because we are subtly conditioned to seek instant gratification and do things to try to maintain the ‘good’ feeling. We struggle to get away from the ‘bad’ feeling – which is a constant battle and expends a lot of energy that equals no peace! We may perceive that we have temporarily ‘escaped’ the ‘bad’ feeling, but until we have felt it, understood and let it go, it will continue to resurface until it is felt and understood. True peace comes from allowing all feelings to bring awareness. The diagram above could also be seen as a heart monitor, with the line of peace being the ‘flat line’ –rest in peace! We cannot live if we fear death, we cannot become aware if we fear feeling! Feeling is the way your soul communicates, so it is important to listen/feel and quest for understanding.
Anger is sometimes considered a negative feeling, however anger is just another form of passion and yet passion is considered a positive feeling. Both feelings when acted upon can have just as devastating consequences for the individual in hindsight. Both feelings are extremes but both necessary to our feeling contentment or peace. Remember feeling does not involve action, just awareness.
For example, if we are feeling extremely sad, lonely, angry or misunderstood, this can often be the trigger that makes us aware that how we are living is no longer working for us. This is communication from our soul. We are forced to look at what we need to do in order to feel ‘better’. We usually start with the awareness of ‘I don’t want to feel like this anymore – this is how I want to feel’- A conscious thought that shifts our focus and gives us direction. We confidently step forward towards our goal, focused!… But then we are faced with the perceptions that need to be shed before we can feel different! This is when it starts to get uncomfortable – because we are forced to ‘clean out the closet’ (look within) in order to have more space for our new set of perceptions that match our new awareness.
Every feeling is a sensation that will change with time. Your power is in the ability to choose in the moment….to react or respond. We Always Have A Choice! Sometimes the choice is not obvious to us because we are triggered into a reaction. The dictionary defines reaction as ‘a tendency to revert to a previous condition, exhaustion consequent on activity’. Reaction is our need to protect our perception. If we want or choose to become intuitively aware, we will be open to having our ‘out of date’, ‘restrictive’ and ‘old’ perceptions challenged. We could be very grateful for the opportunity to be challenged in this regard. If you are viewing or hearing things through the veils of perceptions that no longer ‘fit’ you….and are unaware of this, a good question to ask yourself is ‘Am I reacting or am I responding?”. Hindsight is a very powerful too. Listen to your soul and choose to let go.
Start Feeling Today!
