This phrase, “feelings are not emergencies,” was uttered to me over twenty years ago by my clinical group supervisor.  I was just out of graduate school and had begun a private psychotherapy practice.  She was helping us to mediate our responses to client’s intense emotions.  It was easy to feel like they were emergencies!  We’ve actually learned a lot since then about working with our bodies and emotional states and I am grateful.

In any case, it’s still a great reminder as we often experience feelings as emergencies.  Why do feelings and emotions scare us so much?  Obviously, they can make us feel very vulnerable (and sometimes we need expert help).  We may get overwhelmed, shake, cry, get angry, and sometimes they evoke a sense that there is something wrong with us.  Why am I feeling this way?  What’s wrong with me?

However, they are treasures.  Really?  Really.  While we often perceive our type and triggers as obstacles to our True Nature, they can be invitations into our depths, the essential aspects of who we are beyond the type structure.  Buried treasure.  Learning how to move toward our inner experience, diving into the body rather than running for the hills, accessing resources as needed, we may find truth, beauty and love.  Really?  Really.