I have a female client who is in middle school. I definitely don’t work with young children, but I’ve been testing the waters with younger and younger people to see if they can grasp what I teach – feelings and thoughts, feelings and thoughts, feelings and thoughts. This particular client had some stressful things going on in her life and wanted to talk to someone about it. She ended up in my office, so we jumped right in with releasing. As she told me about each stressful situation, I had her stop, close her eyes, breathe, and just let go of whatever feelings came up, letting them be there but without holding them. Just breathe and feel and watch what happens to the feelings. And of course the feelings moved on out of her system, as they want to do to begin with. We did this a few times, and I was quite impressed. I saw her a week later, and she was like a different person. She doesn’t have to come in much now because she knows how to do it herself. Remember that I’m always trying to work myself out of a job by teaching clients how to be their own therapists.
Fast forward not too long, and I got a call from her mother. She said that she had been upset about something, as we all are at times, and her daughter told her, “It’s okay to feel upset, Mom. Just feel your feelings.” And her mom said that it indeed helped. Of course I was high-fiving the air when I heard this. Yes!
Letting go of what we’re carrying really is so simple, and this story supports that. That’s not to say that my young client isn’t smart, because she’s very smart. But there really is nothing much to releasing – it’s just different than how most people have learned to live. We think too much and we don’t feel enough. Bad feelings aren’t bad at all – they’re normal under the circumstances. But they aren’t designed to hang around for long. Feelings must be felt to leave. They aren’t called suppressions or expressions. So give it a try. If you’re having trouble or need some practice, let me know. And if I can’t help you, then maybe my young client can.