There it is again.  Lurking underneath the surface.  It feels like a tight ball in your chest – or that uncomfortable feeling in your throat like when you swallow a pill and it momentarily gets stuck.

Maybe it’s anger, sadness, frustration or overwhelm.  But one thing’s for sure.  Your body is giving you a signal to pause, slow it down and notice what’s happening.  You just aren’t listening.

If you’re like me, you’ve got things to do, deadlines to meet and other people who need you. So you ignore it. You urge it to go away (with success I might add!) and you pray that it comes back at a more convenient time (like, never!).

And you keep going. You put the Energizer bunny to shame.

Welcome to the road to burnout, my friend.

Your emotions are a signal for you. They hold messages for you. It’s feedback…your soul urging you to listen up. And when you deny it, you block an intelligence inside you that knows when you need to slow down, or get more sleep, or be more open and vulnerable with your feelings.  

I know what you’re thinking: “That’s nice, Seema, but I don’t have time to be all touchy feely. I have meetings to go to, emails to reply to, goals to reach and family commitments.”

I hear you, lady. I fall into this fast lane of life as well.

So what about this…

What if you knew that by allowing yourself to actually experience your feelings, you’d release them faster than if you held onto them?

What if you could be even more productive at work because you were recharged and more in touch with your creativity?  

What if you had more effective conversations because you were responding, not reacting?

And what if it only took 90 seconds out of your day?   

“Recharging and renewing (ourselves) is a performance enhancement tool.” – Arianna Huffington

Research shows that if you allow yourself to experience an emotion (which is none other than an electrochemical reaction) without judgement and without thought, it only takes about 90 seconds for it to run through your system. That’s faster than the amount of time it takes to brush your teeth!

So let me ask you…can you afford 90 seconds to address your feelings if it meant freedom from your inner critic, release from overwhelm, less stress, and an ability to connect better with your colleagues and peers because you’re more present?

Your mission this week:  Ask two trusted friends in your life for 5 minutes of their time. In this time, your only job is to pick one of the feelings that have been lurking under the surface and explore it with them.

Ask your friend to put the timer on for 90 seconds and be present with you as you explore these feelings.  They can even play ‘coach’ and ask you questions to help you go into it.  For example, if it’s overwhelm, they can ask: what does this overwhelm feel like? Where in your body do you feel it? What colour would you give this overwhelm? What are you noticing now?

Stay in this place until the timer goes off and when it does, notice what shifted.

I would love to hear from you – was this easy for you? Hard for you? Did you notice any shift at all? Were there any unexpected benefits?  Let me know in the comments below!  You may even score some online coaching from me! :)