By Sherry Winn
A general rule in the Law of Attraction states that whatever you resist tends to persist. If you have studied the Law of Attraction, you understand the concept that whatever you push against pushes back. It is why waging wars doesn’t work and why the fight against anything produces more of the same. It is an easy concept to grasp, but a difficult one to practice. We have been trained to push back, to fight and to struggle. We are complimented when we fight and told how strong and courageous we are. We are given medals, honors and rewards for being a great soldier, politician or athlete.
It goes against the fabric of our society to move toward things rather than against them, which is why the concept of allowing or surrendering seems meek, mild or even cowardly.
How then are we expected to allow negative emotions to pass through us? We are taught to fight them, and to push them away. We are told to “suck it up” or “just get through it” or even worse to “get back at” the person who harmed us. We are taught to seek revenge, to battle and to put our fists up in the air.
We have many coping mechanisms to extinguish our emotions: drinking, drugs, overeating, immersing ourselves in work and exercising. While exercising may be the most positive form of a coping mechanism, it can also simply be another method of running away or resisting what ails us.
When we feel heartache, we search for ways to push against it, to negate it and to not allow it to enter us. Have you ever felt a pain deep in your heart, felt the center of your chest start to squeeze as if it were in a vice? And what did you do? Did you surrender and allow yourself to feel or did you push against it, afraid of feeling the pain?
When we don’t allow the pain to enter, it is a form of resistance. We are, in fact, embedding that pain within our bodies. We are keeping it in our organs and our cells. The more we resist feeling something, the more it tends to remain within us. It has long been the practice of alternative healers to believe we house trapped emotions in our body. For instance, we keep anger in our liver and fear in our kidneys.
Think about the long-term effects of prolonged anger:
- inflammation of the joints
- headaches
- diabetes
- digestive disorders
- heart disease
- weakening of the nerves
When we resist our anger, when we keep it at the front and center of our thoughts, we are not releasing it. We are feeding it. We are increasing the resistance. We are creating a negative pit of emotions, which turn into dis-ease.
What would happen if instead of fighting an emotion, we relaxed into it?
Here are steps for allowing emotions to pass through us:
—- Breathe in the emotion, allowing it to move through the body without resistance. Sit with it. Simply notice it without any fear attached to the resentment, anger, sadness or despair. Continue to breathe it in.
—- Observe what the emotions feel like as they move throughout the body. Be there in your body and yet observe as if you are not there. Observe without judgment. Allow yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling.
—- After the intensity of the emotion reduces, give yourself permission to release the emotion out of your body, allowing it to flow through you and then releasing it gently.
—- Forgive yourself for your part in holding onto the negative emotion and for your part in creating it.
— Breathe again, slowly and gently. Think of expanding your heart. Opening it. Making it wider. Feel the possibility of love replacing the negative emotion you were holding.
Sherry Winn is an author, EFT Practitioner, Certified Law of Attraction and Master Life Coach and a motivational speaker, whose topics include “Making the Impossible Possible,” “Loving Challenges,” and “Catching Your Dreams.” As a former elite athlete competing at the Olympic Games in 1984 and 1988 in the sport of team handball and head collegiate coach for 23 years, she possesses a deep passion for helping others become motivated to reach their highest levels of success.
Winn overcame her fears and limitations when she contracted chronic pain at the age of 33 and was told by 17 different medical professionals there was no answer. Through books, meditation, mentors and Webinars, she discovered the power of healing through positive thinking.
To receive a free 50-minute Law of Attraction coaching session, or more information about Winn, she can be contacted by email at sherrymwinn@gmail.com, through her website at www.ucancreatesuccess.com or on Facebook.