Subtle Ways we Avoid our Internal Experiences

Building off of last week, let's take another look at avoidance. It's normal to want to push away negative experience, especially when they feel particularly intense or activating. While this tactic may work for a while, it also requires a lot of energy, making it unsustainable over time.

The cost of turning away from ourselves in difficult times can impact other parts of our life as well, such as our relationships to others, our ability to regulate our emotions, or dulling other emotional experiences -- even the good ones.

If we want to connect more fully with ourselves, that means sitting with the unpleasant as well. Opening ourselves to what we are looking to ignore can help improve our ability to deal with difficult experiences in the future.

As with any skill, it takes time to turn towards yourself. Start small and offer yourself support along the way. Name what might be coming up for you, sit with it, and let it pass at it's own pace. In the meantime, dive into self-care and support from those you trust.

Being a human can be hard, but we got this.

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Disclaimer: this post is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. It does not substitute or provide mental help.