If I were to ask you what it means to understand your emotions what would you say?

For many of us, talking about or even thinking about our feelings is not something we want to do. Or maybe you’re in the other camp and have been doing the work required to really understand what it means to feel your feelings.

Either way, this podcast episode is going to be helpful. As a sensitive person I grew up feeling all the things, but I was often told by well-meaning adults to stop feeling them and behave.

To cope as best I could, I created emotional walls so no one could see the parts I had learned to be ashamed of. I kept others out and myself in. Sound familiar? As adults the lesson I heard was that emotions have no place at (fill in the blank) work, school, etc.

This doesn’t work. I know that now and I’m sure you do as well. Which brings us to the question; what do we do now? That’s going to take some unpacking and it’s why I created this podcast.

We can learn what it means to identify and name our emotions. It starts with learning the language of emotions. Did you know most people can only name 3? Happy, sad and angry. When we know the true definitions of what we are feeling then it’s possible to make sense of them.

This podcast is a place to see where we need to know more, and the path to understanding. It’s a journey for me and, I hope, for you too.

In this first episode I share my personal story about how I got here and why this work is so important to me. I grew up in a family that just didn’t talk about feelings at all. As a kid with no control and no way to express my feelings, they ended up impacting me physically.

Brené’s most recent book Atlas of the Heart has become a roadmap, a compass to guide me. It continues to expand my knowledge of emotions. It has forced me to learn (and re-learn) what it means to truly acknowledge my feelings.

Most importantly, it gives me a language for identifying and expressing how I feel. Once I could do that, I began having the courage to share my emotions with others.

Why does language matter?

I’m going to cover this in detail but for now, it’s important to know that when we can’t accurately explain what we are feeling (and many of us have never learned how to do that) we are often disconnected from ourselves and our bodies.

Words matter. When we use accurate labels to describe how it is we are feeling we are able to transform what feels like a murky experience into something with boundaries and a name. There is a world of difference between stress and feeling disappointed or feeling unsupported but we often use the word stressed to mean all 3 and more.

It is my intention that this podcast becomes a place of transformation for all of us. I am sharing my story and the story of others as well. I will also be showing you the tools I use to make it possible to connect more deeply with ourself and each other.

We are on the journey together and I hope you’ll join me. I believe that there is something more true that lives on the other side of understanding and exploring our emotions with curiosity and a true desire to heal.

Resources:

Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown 

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown 

Emotional Agility by Susan David 

Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis 

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