Sometimes it is not easy to deal with emotions, especially if we experience intense emotions that take up a lot of space in our daily lives. Difficult feelings like anxiety, anger, stress, panic, among others, end up taking control of our life especially if we fight against them.

Considering our life history, our origins, the culture in which we are inserted, the logic in which we live, among others, dealing with strong emotions can be particularly difficult.

How many times do we go on the street and someone greets us asking, “So, is everything okay?” What is often answered, could be: “It’s all okay, thank you” or “I´m fine”. It is a fact that on certain difficult days we could be truthful and respond by sharing how badly we are feeling. The way we deal with emotions varies from person to person, but it is common that avoidance of emotion or behaviour change are strategies that we use. It seems to be easier not to bring deep emotions to the surface, it may be too painful.

The strategy of avoiding or even blocking the feeling of pain promotes internal relief, it is a protection, which at the same time creates distance, which distance us away from solving the problem, perpetuating it. However, emotion has a set of important roles. It’s like the red light that lights up on a car dashboard and tells us that something goes wrong. Emotion tells us not only what we feel, but also what we need.

When we hear the voice of emotion, which is, when we concentrate attention on fear, sadness, shame, guilt, or other, and we can feel the information that is shared internally with curiosity, calmness and clarity, the decisions of our life tend to be taken more safely.

Our emotions are present from an early age. Sometimes the interpretation that is made in a particular situation, is based fundamentally on the answers learned from an early age and that deals with fear, sadness, guilt, shame, among others. These are learned responses that keep us away from feelings of pain that cannot be reexperienced.

In the background it is important to pay attention to the feelings without being part of them at the same time, it is necessary to create safe space to listen to the history of the emotion that hurts, be with her and for her.