The thing about feeling your feelings is: it doesn’t always FEEL good. It’s not always easy. But the more in tune you get with what you’re feeling, the better you can identify and meet your needs. It takes a whole lot of self-awareness and respect.

It’s a practice, and it can be a fruitful one.

I follow a therapist online, Lisa Olivera, who happens to be a gifted writer, and she wrote that “taking care of yourself and your needs is the best gift you can offer and receive.”

Oh. My. Yes.

Taking ownership of how you feel and responsibility for how you work through those feelings doesn’t just improve your own quality of life -- it directly affects the people around you.

You’re not an island. You’re a human being.

And being a human means you’re going to feel things. Sometimes all sorts of things all at the same time. And you're in good company because a lot of us feel like a mess a lot of the time. We all have “off” days. We’re all human.

One way to move through your tricky feelings (not around them) is reminding yourself that it’s okay to feel this way.

It’s okay to feel off-balance. You don’t have to minimize, judge, hate, or apologize for your feelings, and you don’t need to pretend you’re okay when you’re not.

You feel things for a reason.

The biggest thing is to be aware, to wrap your emotional state in awareness instead of moving away from it.

That’s why affirmations are such helpful tools for working through your uncomfortable and persistent emotions: they ground you in the here and now and force you to face your current situation with awareness, intention, and hopefully a deep breath.

Each affirmation here is like a “note to self.” It’s an “I am” statement of what’s true for you, or what’s possible for you. It’s a recognition of reality, a way to validate the way you feel, a harbinger of change. 

When I’m mad or I’m experiencing a wave of depression, simple affirmations work best for me because they’re easy to remember and get right to the point. So that’s what I’m offering here. You have to find what statements speak to you, so use language that feels right for you.

For more, check out my hand-lettered affirmation art prints, or my new encouragement cards!

Give yourself a chance to sit with your feelings, understand where they’re coming from, and figure out what you need, and you’ll gain some valuable insight. You’ll understand yourself better and will be better able to help yourself next time you feel this way.

Next time you’re feeling a feeling you’d rather not be feeling, take a deep breath. Think to yourself or speak out loud an affirmation that honors what you’re feeling. Let yourself be where you are, just for now.

Just for right here and now.

Remember that feelings happen for a reason and if you respect them, and yourself, they’ll move.

13 Affirmations for Feeling Your Feelings and Moving Forward

1. I am allowed to feel this way.
2. I am not defined by what I feel. This experience doesn’t control me. This feeling doesn’t have to determine my whole day.
3. I am not defined by what I did or didn’t receive. No matter what happened then, I have a say in what happens now.
4. I can withstand the discomfort of being human. I can breathe my way through this.
5. The greatest gift I can give and receive is the awareness of what I need right now. The inner work that I do directly benefits the people around me, too.
6. I don’t need to be healed to be worthy of love. I can feel broken and still be whole. I can hurt and still hope. I'm a little bit of everything, and it's only natural to feel a lot sometimes.
7. I'm not okay right now, and that's okay. There's still light here. I can grow through this. I can choose another thought that feels a little better. I won't always feel this way.
8. Even though I feel like this, I am okay. Even though I feel like this, I am worthy of love and respect.
9. I wonder what this feeling wants me to see.
10. I don't need to change right away. I don't need to feel better right away. I just need to listen. I trust this feeling will move through me in its own time. I trust myself to hear what it has to say. I trust myself to learn what I need to learn from it.
11. I am free to choose the palette of my emotional sky. (here's the art print)
12. I own my emotions so they don't own me.
13. My heart is spacious enough to hold everything I feel and everything I am.

. . .

Tell me:

Which of these affirmations speaks to your life right now?

How do you work through your tricky feelings? 

Tell me in the comments. I’d really love to know!

Go easy on you,

Jen

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