Surprise, There Are No Good Or Bad Emotions

Recently, the topic of emotions came across my Facebook feed.  It gave me a moment to think about the different emotions that we experience in our lives.  So often our emotions are labeled one way or another.  Good emotions, positive emotions, bad emotions, negative emotions.  People seem to congratulate you when you are exhibiting positive(good) emotions and think poorly of you when you are showing negative(bad) emotions.  This seems to indicate that some emotions are better than others.  My question is are emotions really good or bad? My answer is no. There are no good or bad emotions.

My theory is that emotions are just emotions.  They’re all feelings, states of mind or mental reactions to external or internal stimuli.  They’re neither good nor bad.  They might be uncomfortable at times but they are still emotions that we all feel at one time or another.

Why do you prefer one type of feeling over the other?

So, why do we think it’s better when someone is laughing versus when someone is crying?  They are both feelings that we all experience.  They might be on different ends of the spectrum but neither is wrong or bad.  I think we prefer the laughter because it is easier to accept.  The crying is harder to acknowledge because it might remind us of our own sadness that we are hiding or denying.

In my yoga therapy work, I see people express pretty much every emotion there is.  Sometimes those emotions can go from one extreme to the other in the blink of the eye, but there are no good or bad emotions.  They are all expressions of your current state of being and they are a reflection or your inner and outer world in that moment. In a session, what I do is provide a safe place for people to explore all of the feelings that they feel.  When you connect to what you notice in your body, you begin to make connections to your own life.  That’s where those feelings come into play.

No good or bad emotions are ruling your life.

If you’ve spent your entire life avoiding an emotion because you’ve been taught that it’s bad or not a feeling that you should show or share, then you haven’t been able to experience all of the feelings that a human being naturally feels. 

Maybe you’ve been suppressing anger because you’ve been told that anger won’t do you any good.  Well, if this is the case you might have anger in your body that is just waiting to come out.  When it’s not released, it will show up in your body in some way or another.  Maybe it’s a tight neck or sore shoulder.  It doesn’t really matter how it shows up.  What really matters is that you listen to your body and acknowledge the feelings that are hidden within it because if you don’t, those feelings will only intensify.

I help you heal from trauma by providing you with a safe place to explore your feelings.  You get to be happy, sad, angry, excited, scared, relieved and all of the others that you might feel in any given session.  Whether it’s an easy or a difficult feeling, you learn to listen to the wisdom that your body is trying to share with you.

What is it like to really explore the sensations within you? 

To accept that they are all part of who you are?  To not lock some away and only show what others might want to see?  To really explore all of you, including all of your emotions is empowering.  Instead of running from some feelings, try accepting that you are feeling a certain way in any given moment of the day.  It may be uncomfortable for a time, but you might also learn something new about yourself.  You might find that your emotions are really not bad at all.  Your emotions are only sharing how you feel.  Frequently once acknowledged, they’ll change to something else.  That discomfort in your body that you currently feel may be your mind trying to deny that you are angry.  Acknowledge the anger and see what happens.

I believe that there are no good or bad emotions and taken as a whole, your feelings make up who your are right now. To deny some of your feelings the chance of expression is to deny parts or yourself. 

Why would you really want to do that?  Instead, sit with the discomfort for just a minute.  Befriend your body and all of your emotions.  You’ll be empowered to be a better version of yourself.  You might learn something that you’ve been avoiding.  You might just become friends with all of the emotions. Trust me, it’s worth it to do just that!

Like I said, this isn’t always easy to do. I believe in you thought. I know that you can befriend the parts of yourself that might seem hard to handle. With support and a little practice you can learn to accept all of the sensations within you and be whole once again.

Do you need support to do just that? Schedule a free chat with me to see how I can help.

And remember, it’s never too late to live healthier & happier!