I recently woke up feeling pretty agitated.

I have to admit I wasn't exactly sure why. But I had an idea.

I had a list of things on my to-do list to accomplish before I had to leave for the morning, but I recognized that if I pushed to get them done and ignored whatever the source of my agitation was, I would not only carry it with me throughout my day, but it would make the whole day harder.

Maybe you’ve had one of those days recently too.

A moment when you’re at a crossroads of realizing you can either take care of everyone and everything else on your list or you can take care of yourself first.

It’s not an easy choice to make.

There will always be things that need our attention. And it’s uncomfortable to sit with our emotions and look honestly at our experiences. Using our to-do lists and the busy-ness of our lives can give us a lot of reasons (read: excuses) to avoid that discomfort.

But if it’s important, it will always come back up again.

For me, this was one of those situations that has come up many times. And yes, I’ve taken plenty of opportunities to ignore it and focus on my to-do list.

But this wasn’t one of those days.

This time, I chose to set aside the to-do list and take care of myself first.

Often the emotions that we’re feeling in a current situation actually have more to do with past hurts and emotional triggers than what’s presently going on.

So if we only focus on the surface issues in the present moment, we might be missing an opportunity to heal ourselves on a deeper level from past wounds.

And those past wounds can often have us overreacting in present situations in ways that are not useful and only serve to create more stress and unnecessary drama or strife.

Sometimes we have to slow down to speed up.

To take time to sit with the uncomfortable, to honor our emotions, to heal the past, so that we can move boldly forward with confidence and trust in ourselves, the process, and the universe.

Where we can show up in life not in fear of the Universe and “waiting for the next shoe to drop”, but one where we’re in co-creative partnership with it and asking it to “show us how good it can get!”.

Use this 3-part process to move through emotional triggers + heal past wounds

Enter this process from a place of love and curiosity. You’re not here to judge, fix or change anything. You’re simply here to witness. Feelings are fluid and can be processed more quickly and effortlessly when we let go of the story attached to them. They are not who we are. They are part of our human experience.

Become aware of your physical body: notice any sensations or discomfort. Where might this agitation be showing up for you in your body?
Get curious: What current emotions or experiences might be present that are contributing to your physical sensations? What past triggers are potentially being brought up by the present situation as an opportunity to heal them on a deeper level?
Begin to breathe: keep witnessing it all as you bring your breath into it. Breathe. Soften. Release. Breathe. Soften. Release.

Don’t rush the healing: it’s ok to not know what’s next. It’s ok to just be. You don’t need to do anything right now.