There are many techniques to help with developing tolerance for emotions when we haven't been in touch with our feelings.
Something like Wendy writes about can be very useful. Each person needs to find what works for him/her. There is no right or wrong way to go about this process- as long as we keep exploring things until we find what's right for us.
It's neither effective nor safe to try to use methods/techniques that aren't well suited for us. For instance, some people are able and comfortable closing their eyes, while others feel keeping their eyes open is safer and more in control.
Developing tolerance and familiarity with emotions should be viewed as an endurance event, analogous to training to run a marathon. As Wendy points out, we will need to start where we can and "train" slowly. At the beginning, we don't have much tolerance. We become fatigued quickly and easily. But as we continue to practice, our endurance and confidence grow. We begin to see that instead of being able to sit with an emotion for 10 seconds, we can now sit with it for 30 or 40 without becoming too tired, afraid or overwhelmed.
There are many techniques to help with developing tolerance for emotions when we haven't been in touch with our feelings.
Something like Wendy writes about can be very useful. Each person needs to find what works for him/her. There is no right or wrong way to go about this process- as long as we keep exploring things until we find what's right for us.
It's neither effective nor safe to try to use methods/techniques that aren't well suited for us. For instance, some people are able and comfortable closing their eyes, while others feel keeping their eyes open is safer and more in control.
Developing tolerance and familiarity with emotions should be viewed as an endurance event, analogous to training to run a marathon. As Wendy points out, we will need to start where we can and "train" slowly. At the beginning, we don't have much tolerance. We become fatigued quickly and easily. But as we continue to practice, our endurance and confidence grow. We begin to see that instead of being able to sit with an emotion for 10 seconds, we can now sit with it for 30 or 40 without becoming too tired, afraid or overwhelmed.