Observing vs. Feeling

Observing feelings means becoming very good at observing emotions, as well as developing the skill to explain anger, anxiety, or sadness. Observing means knowing the story, understanding the psychology, and connecting all the dots.

Observing feelings means having the ability to notice, label, analyze, or describe emotions without fully experiencing them. 

Feeling feelings means allowing your body and nervous system to fully experience an emotion without immediately escaping, explaining, fixing, or judging it.  

When feeling an emotion we may experience sensations like the throat tightening, tears forming, chest pain, butterflies appearing in the stomach, or an urge to cry.  Emotions naturally rise, peak, and subside when they are allowed to be experienced rather than live on when suppressed.  In short, get it out of the volcano instead of keeping it inside.

Observing vs. Feeling

Observation uses the thinking part of the brain. It creates distance, which could be incredibly useful when emotions become overwhelming.

Feeling uses the other part of the brain, which leads to healing because emotions are physiological events.  Not just thoughts, but rather body experiences.

The take away:

• Observing leads to awareness. 

• Feeling leads to healing.

Explanation:

We are healthiest WITH both. Observation helps to avoid being swept away by emotion, AND Feeling allows the nervous system to process and heal from the experience.