Feel all those feelings and do so as they emerge in their raw form. These feelings lead us to the spaces ready to heal. It is the physical response to feelings that creates such discomfort in the physical body that we feel as though we cannot bear the pain. The emotional discomfort triggers a physical pain that captivates all of our senses and guides us towards the raw wound in need of attention.

Sometimes we bury the emotion to rid ourselves of both the physical and emotional pain. Perhaps this works for a brief moment, but the wound remains, slightly hidden, just below the surface. Like a funny bone hit without warning that drops us to our knees. Emotions have but one requirement, they require to be felt. For it is in the discomfort of these feelings that our healing journey takes root. The stressful thought at the helm of these emotions is seen and Self Inquiry can begin.

Identifying the stressful thought is core to Self Inquiry. Theoretically this seems easy. Yet getting to the heart of the specifics of a destructive thought can actually be quite hard to identify and sit with. There is a simple reason for this. It’s uncomfortable and embarrassing. It’s uncomfortable to sit with ourselves in the depths of our insecurity.

Yet buried deep, and hiding beneath the cloak of these insecurities, is where our healing begins. The emotion is a map that guides us and helps identify the origin of the wound. It can feel morbidly embarrassing to admit and accept the irrational nature of our thoughts.

We run across dialogues such as:

• I thought I was over this

• I am pathetic for thinking this

• I have done too much work to think this

• I want to be done with this

• I am better than this

And the list goes on and on.

Be brave enough to admit to yourself the most hurtful thoughts you tell yourself. Do so regardless of how pathetic you feel, how unwilling you are to look in those spaces, or how embarrassed you are by the topic. The only way around is straight through and I promise what you find on the other side of that stressful thought is pure freedom.

There is a way out. There is a way for things to be different. You just have to be brave enough to feel the rawness of a feeling, look beneath the cloak, and question the hell out of everything!