When Intense emotions that are negative or positive, like joy or love, are too big to be contained on a page in your journal, they need to be released in another way. These feelings are your body’s way of letting you know what is happening within you — they are like an email or text message that is needing a ‘Read’ receipt. Once the body knows you have received and accepted the message, the energy behind the emotion will start to soften.

To process fiery emotions, dance it out !

If you are looking for a new therapist and are curious if combining mindfulness and therapy is a good fit for you, consider the four reasons below on how mindfulness could help you get to where you want to go.

At Flourish!, the vagus nerve is the connector between our treatment models in psychotherapy and our nutritional services and programs. By working with clients to develop vagal tone so they can regulate their cognitive, emotional and social behavior response they can accept the body’s anxious response—rather than resist it—ensuring healthy communication and processing during stressful times. Eating the right foods to ensure healthy digestion and elimination also plays a big role in developing vagal tone.

When we disconnect from our body and stay in our head, we miss out on a connection to the deeper wisdom we can find within. Our body’s signals can often be dismissed or seen as less important than the messages we are receiving in our brains. However, it’s important to listen to our bodies, as the body is wise and can tell us what it needs to thrive.

No wonder we look at our phones so many times during the day; we are looking for that something or a distraction, a respite where we can disconnect from the feels that come up for all of us in response to our current reality. But, the distraction only gives us temporary relief - the feels don’t go away. By giving yourself a lot of time to slowly shift this habit as well as a lot of space for relapses and not judging yourself for the relapse, you can eventually become aware of what you want a distraction from and like magic, you will start looking at your phone less.

Allowing yourself to feel both positive and negative emotions is healthy. Dr. Dan Siegel’s research on ‘Name it to tame it’ was groundbreaking in its use of fMRI images showing the disengagement of the brain’s amygdala when emotions are labeled and talked about. Now new research with nearly 1,700 participants over a five year period also showed healthy psychological outcomes for those who allow both negative and positive emotions to be felt and experienced.