Painful emotions

[herewego]

Hi all,
Hopefully posting this in the right area....

I have not been practising mindfulness very long, perhaps only for a few weeks.

I have recently had a lot of painful emotion come to the surface which I would describe as a burning in my chest, which can change in size and shape, and move as far as my stomach and my neck. Sometimes it feels incredibly horrible.
The problem is, since it's come to the surface, it's persistent, even when I'm not mindful, I can still notice the discomfort in my chest.
I don't exactly know what the emotion is, in fact, I am not really sure how to determine the nature of any of my emotions.

So, I guess I was wondering,
a) has anyone experienced a similar thing?
b) should I expect it to last long?
c) what would be the best method for assuaging some of the discomfort?
and d) how can I better learn to identify what it is that I am actually feeling?

Thank you.

[JonW]

Hi herewego,
Thanks for the post and welcome to the forum.
It would be useful to know how you are going about learning mindfulness.
All good things,
Jon

[herewego]

Hi Jon,
using headspace guided meditations. Which include body scan and then breathe/emotion awareness.

[JonW]

OK.
My advice would be to bring your attention and curiosity to the unpleasant sensations and see how that goes. Just notice what is happening and notice when you are resisting or pushing away.
I'm not a fan of Headspace myself. It strikes me as Mindfulness Lite and, to be fair, Headspace doesn't promote itself as a mindfulness practice. What I've seen of it is more relaxation therapy than anything else. It is markedly different from the Jon Kabat-Zinn mindfulness model. But Headspace does seem to work for some people.
Let us know how you get along.
All good things,
Jon

[Matt Y]

Here we go, herewego:

a) has anyone experienced a similar thing?

Yes. Many people experience similar painful emotions and sensations.

b) should I expect it to last long?

Who knows how long it will last? Emotions work in much the same way as hunger. That is, in order for your hunger to go away you need to eat. Similarly, in order for an emotion to go away, you need to take the appropriate action (for that emotion). The first step in this process is to learn to identify what the emotion is.

c) what would be the best method for assuaging some of the discomfort?

Following on from the answer to b), the best method of assuaging the discomfort would be to learn to identify and understand what that emotion is trying to communicate, and then to take the appropriate action.


and d) how can I better learn to identify what it is that I am actually feeling?

Read through the emotions listed on this Emotional Vocabulary List and see which one seems to describe the way you are feeling: http://karlamclaren.com/wp-content/uplo ... -Color.pdf

I would suggest that learning about emotions would be more useful to you right now than learning about mindfulness, though you could certainly learn about them together, and a meditation practice can help you to learn about your emotions. A great starting place would be Karla McLaren's book The Language of Emotions (https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Lang ... _aid=mmcbd).

Karla's website is currently being redeveloped but she also has a lot of useful information about emotions on her youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/KarlaMcLaren

All that said, I'm not 100% convinced that what you are describing is an emotion. If such pains persist I would recommend visiting your GP to check that they don't have a physical basis.

[herewego]

Thank you both for the replies.
Jon, I will take a look at the Kabat-Zinn method, I'm actually reading mindful way through depression at the moment. That being said, I have found headspace to be helpful, though I am have some difficulty with knowing if I am resisting or pushing away... additionally have some difficulty with knowing if I'm feeling the feeling or watching it at this stage.

Matt, thanks, I'll give that book a read. I feel it's guilt, however a medical professional believes it's shame or grief. I don't quite identify with any particular label, apparently I am taking appropriate action and therefore it's shame because of its persistence.

[JonW]

Hi herewego,
I'm glad you have found Headspace to be helpful. I'm not denying it can be beneficial to people but I have encountered quite a few people who have become a bit confused by the subtle differences between Headspace teaching and the Kabat-Zinn approach.
Help is always on hand here on the forum, assuredly.
All good things,
Jon

[piedwagtail91]

Not sure if this will help.
It's an emotion body map. My therapist gave me something similar many years ago when I was trying to make sense of my 'feelings'.
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/12/30/258313116/mapping-emotions-on-the-body-love-makes-us-warm-all-over

[arguseyed]

I just came out of a 6 week mindfulness course to deal with painful emotions. As others say, you need to track the sensations in the body. Notice where it's happening, what's the shape, stay with it and do not resist it. As it changes, notice what happens next. If it helps you can use your 5 senses to orient yourself to the physical world. Look around with your eyes, smell, sounds, taste and touch. Say to yourself that the senses are telling you to be safe.

You said that the sensation stays even when you are not mindful. The sensation is there because of some thought that comes up, but bringing mindfulness to it will make it stay for less time. It will keep coming back and each time you bring your awareness to it, the intensity will lessen.

I hope this has been helpful.

[herewego]

Thank you, sorry for my delayed response, I had not checked the forum in a while.
I like the map, I think it is helpful
and yes, awareness has dulled this feeling, and it has been changing - very slowly.
I've recently been including the Kabat-zinn body scan method in my practice, though I have difficulty understanding bringing awareness to a sensation in the body, in terms of where 'i' am. Like if I focus on my toes, there is some degree of feeling them, but my awareness for the most part still resides in my head...
I don't know a better way of explaining myself there... but I just hope this is still the correct technique.