I am sure you have noticed the mounting stress and emotional overwhelm that many are experiencing. Beyond the cavalcade or steady drip of emotions that greet us each day, we also have emotions from long ago that have been suppressed and live inside of us.
Research science has revealed that repressed emotions, those experiences we have not skillfully regulated, can alter biochemistry when lodged in the body's cellular structure. Unprocessed emotions release into the bloodstream a quantifiable chemical reaction that travels to cell receptors and shuts them down. These cells are then unable to communicate to the cells in other parts of the body. These blocked cells are one of the ways that we have begun to understand how illness is initiated in the body.
With these unprocessed emotional clumps inside of us, what we are often left with is a dull ache or angst. These are often referred to as anxiety or depression or anger, etc., and can be quite troublesome. It is no wonder we drink, or drug, or overeat, or engage in behaviors that are an attempt to ease the distress. It is also easy to see why we have emotions that run amuck and emerge from us at the most inopportune times.
With meditation we come to recognize the particular conditions of our lives and the emotional experiences that have their origin in the present or past or both. We approach what is happening in our lives, without pushing it away, and we gain support and encouragement from others that we may be with.
In meditation, we breathe deeply, to the belly, as we take the time. We anchor in the present moment via the breath to have an encounter with our deeper selves, beneath the pain. We breathe in and through our emotional states to dissolve the intensity of our various processes that were initiated consciously or unconsciously. We move beyond surface structures to the peace that is in all of us in our True Nature's center.
I hope this helps and encourages you to continue or begin a meditation practice. Peace to you.
