We all know about the harmful effects of poisoning our bodies with over consumption. We can eat too much. Drink too much. Sleep too much. Exercise too much. Watch television too much. Play games too much. Anything you can think of could easily be taken in excess.
But what about emotions?
It’s easily identifiable when you may have over indulged physically. An upset stomach, feeling slow, and exhaustion are very succinct indicators. However, when it comes to emotions, it’s harder to identify when we’ve been holding on to “excess”.
Emotions require an active and conscious effort to recognize when they might be require special attention. If you find yourself doing the usual processing of your emotions through various coping mechanisms such as journaling, relaxation, meditation, or even exercising – and it’s just not working…what do you do??
This is where emotional purging (also known as catharsis) is necessary to filter out the toxic emotions that are swirling around in your mind, body and total self. Here are three signs that could indicate it’s time to honor your emotions. Allow them the space to freely expand and expunge and patiently await the positive impact.
1. Repetitive thoughts + triggers
If you are spending more than 15 minutes of your day ruminating over specific experiences, emotions or thoughts – it might be time to take an emotional check.
Circling around in our minds about how someone treated us, how we reacted to them, or how we made them feel can create intense emotions that bottle up. Inside of each of us is a cup of emotions. It can swirl and spin around with all of the emotional stresses we carry. The more we let our reactions to said experiences fill the cup, the more it’s going to rise up, and eventually, you guessed it, spill out, into your life.
This is why it’s a perfect idea to sit back and acknowledge your emotional state. It might be hard at first but try to let them flow and allow them to simply be. Don’t overanalyze what you’re feeling, instead let me rise to the surface without judgement. Write them out, listen to music, meditate and accept their existence by addressing them head on.
2. Others notice your state of being
Has anyone around you noticed your feelings or verbally observed them? Have you exploded or gone on a tirade with your feelings for something small? Do you easily get road rage? Is there undeniable evidence that you’ve used your emotions to hurt another?
This is one of the largest identifiers that your emotions need your full attention. If your emotional state involves exploding at co-workers, family, or friends – then that your emotional cup is spilling over onto others. What do spills cause? A mess! That’s what will be left in your wake as the feelings start to get larger, looming and more complex/harder to manage.
If you experience this, now is the time to talk about these emotions and/or let them purge out in your own time. The harmful levels inside of you will get more intense over time, stacking on one another. All this will do is create a deeper problem that makes it harder in the long run to address. There’s so many ways to cope. If these regular coping mechanisms (no matter how healthy or unhealthy they are) no longer work with you, this emotional state of poison can hurt you – physically.
Be kind to yourself and realize that it’s time to pay attention to how you feel and its effect on others.
3. A harmful complex has formed
When a deep, emotional complex has formed internally, there’s always a possibility of it developing into something worse. When this happens, we will find ourselves stuck in repeating emotional cycles. These feelings have now turned into small little programs that auto-repeat daily. This can manifest as depression, general anxiety, insomnia, unfiltered anger/rage, resentment, self harm, shame and guilt or worse.
It’s at this stage it becomes harder to rid yourself of them or sit with them to process. This is because now your emotional state starts to cause harm internally. You’ve created a knot of emotions that is harder to untie despite usual efforts.
If you find yourself buried under the weight of your emotions you might require a good purge session. If that isn’t really helping (or it’s making you worse) it’s time to ask for help. This help can come from trusted friends, family, or professionals.
You might feel scared, confused, lost, and guarded when letting others into your emotional space. However, if you’re truly having a hard time coping with the emotions on your personal journey, talking to someone and educating yourself about emotions are a wise place to start. Your emotional intelligence and awareness is a must. When approaching your emotions in a safe place with someone who can untangle them, personal growth and healing is sure to start budding.
Overall the benefits of emotional purging is like a cleanse for the system. We all have a cup, sometimes it gets too full and spills over into unrelated areas. We all know what this feels like, so a cleanse is a necessity. It’s a part of being human and having powerful, intense, sometimes uncontrollable emotions doesn’t make you less than. A regular cleanse of your emotions is important as it promotes a healthier form of living and is beneficial for a more fulfilling life. Take the time to recognize your emotions and keep your cup half full!