Unfuck Your Brain
Self-awareness
Navigate Trauma Recovery with These Proven Strategies
from Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-Outs, and Triggers by Faith G. Harper
How to Apply This
- Set aside five minutes to sit with your emotions.
Take five minutes to simply acknowledge the emotion you’re feeling without trying to fight or avoid it. This helps retrain your brain to understand that emotions are temporary and manageable. - Avoid reacting impulsively to the emotion.
Instead of acting on the emotion right away, take a pause. This gives your brain time to process the emotion as a signal rather than a permanent state of being. - Practice mindful breathing or free-writing while sitting with your emotions.
While sitting with your emotions, engage in an activity like breathing exercises or journaling. This keeps you grounded in the present moment and prevents your mind from spiraling into rumination. Breathing slowly and deeply sends signals to your brain that it’s safe to relax, while free-writing helps to release your thoughts and emotions onto paper, giving them space outside your mind. - Acknowledge that the emotion won’t last forever.
Remind yourself that emotions are temporary and designed to last only a short time. You might feel consumed by them in the moment, but they naturally dissipate once you’ve given them attention. It’s like riding a wave—intense at first but eventually it dies down. - ** Reflect on how the emotion feels after five minutes.**
Once you’ve allowed yourself to sit with the emotion for five minutes, reflect on how you feel. Notice whether the intensity of the feeling has reduced, and if you’re ready to move forward without feeling overwhelmed by it. Often, by acknowledging the emotion and sitting with it, you may find yourself naturally ready to shift your focus to something else.
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