There have been several times in my life where I have been in a state of ongoing fatigue that only lifted when I released the emotions stuck below the surface. Each experience of this was different. I used different methods, it was either layers of emotion or a deep seated belief that when removed released a lot of feelings that led to a return of balanced energy.

The first time I did this is also one of the most significant as it led to the way I have ended up working therapeutically and this is to simply be present to what’s here now. And to keep being present to whatever arises as we work down through the layers.

Over 20 years ago, a few months after I’d left my husband I was cycling home one night and as happened most days I felt a wave of feelings, mainly sadness, starting to come up. As usual I began to stuff it all back down. This time however I stopped myself from doing this. I’d just read a book called “Emotional Clearing” by John Ruskin and thought let’s try what he talks about, which was to just feel whatever you are feeling with acceptance. I did this and was thankful the road I was on was both quiet and dark as I burst into tears. I cried for a few minutes and then spontaneously realised why I’d been suppressing the sadness. The weird workings of the subconsciousness had a thought running that, if I let go of the sadness of leaving him I would want to go back to him.

I ended up having a small laugh at the illogicality of that. After this I just let myself feel the sadness when it arose and noticed not just a shift in mood and feeling depressed but a definite returning of energy. I was a lot less tired.

The other point I noticed was that releasing emotion leads to deeper insight into what we’re really thinking or feeling.

Being present to what’s here, whether it’s emotional, mental or physical distress frees us up in so many ways. As I talked about in the post on increasing our life force, it helps to increase not just that but the vital spark of who we are.

Emotional weights

Emotional distress impacts our body, our mind and our well-being. It certainly impacts us on an energy level as fatigue, the fatigue is often here because we have caused an imbalance within one of our various energetic systems, this could be within the chakras, meridians or reflex points. This is why certain therapies have near miraculous results when applied to fatigue. Modalities such as Acupuncture or Acupressure, Emmet Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy and also ones that seek to address structural issues such as Alexander Technique, Manipulation or deep tissue massage. They work because they free trapped or imbalanced energy – when the natural energy flows within the body are restored we have a greater chance of recovery.

The surface emotions we experience as we go through our day, unless they are relentlessly negative, are not so much of a problem. We experience many emotional states on a daily basis that for the most part will not leave a lasting impression on us physically. It is the deeply felt or perhaps shocking emotion that can affect the body and lead to poor health and exhaustion.

When our minds are in turmoil, when we have deeply entrenched thoughts, beliefs or incessant mental patterns about yourself, events, people or the world these usually have some kind of emotional weight attached to them. The emotional drivers below the repetitive mental states are like weights tethering the thoughts to a never ending loop.

This why attempting to discipline and quieten the mind can be so difficult, or why people who are very mentally disciplined can sometimes end up having a nervous breakdown. Before we do work on the mind such as disciplining thoughts or attempting meditation it can be of great value to first address the emotions.

Below I share the link again of releasing feelings through the simple method of just breathing through them, this is based on the John Ruskin work on Emotional Clearing.