Good meditation for dealing with suppressed emotions?

[DefinitelyNotARobot]

So, I've been meditating for a while now and it helped me a lot, but there is a thing that I've noticed.

Every time when I meditate I can feel all those emotions floating around somewhere deep down within me. Emotions that I can't access.

It's weird... I CAN feel them! I KNOW they're there! But... it's like they're stuck... I just can't get them to come out.

Sometimes I can get a single tear out. But that's it.

I usually try to focus my attention on an emotion as soon as it arises, but it then just vanishes.

I've never been good with emotions. I've always been more of a "thinking" guy. More of a "rational" guy.

And emotions always seemed so irrational and stupid to me. Like a foreign language.

I've been also struggling with depression for a few years now and that didn't make things easier...

I had a psychedelic experience that opened me up a little bit, but my emotions still seem out of reach for me.

I have a lot of suppressed stuff bubbling inside of me. The problem is that these suppressed feelings can make me act in stupid ways.

For example:

I can get angry at other people, when in reality I'm just angry at myself. And this can be pretty annoying, especially when you are aware of yourself doing it. 

So I'd rather face my feelings directly. I want to get over it. But I have a few questions about that:

    - Why is it so hard for me to get my emotions out?

    - Did any of you have similar experiences? What did you do to get into contact with your emotions?

    - Are there any meditation practices you would recommend me? (I am currently doing  vipassana meditation and it has been working pretty good)

    - How can I get better at expressing my emotions? I'm making music as a hobby and I sometimes struggle with expressing myself emotionally (unless I'm high)

I hope somebody can help me out a little!

Peace!

[Mulky]

The best I've found for this is 30 minutes of holotropic breathing.  Set an alarm for 30 minutes and do 30 minutes no matter what.  If you feel like stopping, calmly tell yourself to finish.  At some point you'll feel the stuck emotions work through.  This is a really good way to override whatever in the psyche is holding back from processing the emotions and deciding to keep them stuck.

[Mulky]

also be sure to observe your feelings as best as you can during this with equanimity.  And afterwords take it easy and tender on yourself.  Let yourself feel a bid melancholy, maybe just veg out for a bit while you experience whatever tenderness came up.

[Forestluv]

+1 on holotropic breathing. It’s good for release. And low/moderate doses of psychedelics. Even microdosing helped. 

[DrewNows]

method #1: During meditation talk to yourself, be your own therapist, think of it as comforting the inner child you can never leave behind 

method #2: Expose yourself, work on being vulnerable. Simply look for opportunities to do this. If you start judging yourself beforehand, expose that self doing the judging. Do this with people you know or random strangers by sharing how you feel in that moment. I think this can be a great way to attune to your emotions, increase the ability to let go of undesired thought/emotion and avoid suppressing 

Edited December 5, 2019 by DrewNows

[DefinitelyNotARobot]

53 minutes ago, Mulky said:

The best I've found for this is 30 minutes of holotropic breathing.  Set an alarm for 30 minutes and do 30 minutes no matter what.  If you feel like stopping, calmly tell yourself to finish.  At some point you'll feel the stuck emotions work through.  This is a really good way to override whatever in the psyche is holding back from processing the emotions and deciding to keep them stuck.

Thanks! I've read about holotropic breathwork before, but I didn't get into it. I think now might be a good time for it!

[DefinitelyNotARobot]

32 minutes ago, DrewNows said:

method #1: During meditation talk to yourself, be your own therapist, think of it as comforting the inner child you can never leave behind 

method #2: Expose yourself, work on being vulnerable. Simply look for opportunities to do this. If you start judging yourself beforehand, expose that self doing the judging. Do this with people you know or random strangers by sharing how you feel in that moment. I think this can be a great way to attune to your emotions, increase the ability to let go of undesired thought/emotion and avoid suppressing 

#2 So you are basically saying I should lower my emotional guard? I really DO have a hard time talking about my feelings with others. I haven't thought about opening up with them, this might actually help, thanks!

[DrewNows]

2 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotARobot said:

#2 So you are basically saying I should lower my emotional guard? I really DO have a hard time talking about my feelings with others. I haven't thought about opening up with them, this might actually help, thanks!

I think it may help in raising EQ. Instead of always sharing stories, start off with sharing your emotion, it’s the feminine side that can make you more complete, even desirable

Also, sometimes, in learning to let go of negative emotion you first have to practice sharing 

[Jkhv1]

"Feeding your Demons" by Tsultrim Allione has been a very practical and simple, yet powerful book that contains within it a practice for dealing with "inner conflict".

[Buba]

On 12/5/2019 at 5:25 AM, Mulky said:

The best I've found for this is 30 minutes of holotropic breathing.  Set an alarm for 30 minutes and do 30 minutes no matter what.  If you feel like stopping, calmly tell yourself to finish.  At some point you'll feel the stuck emotions work through.  This is a really good way to override whatever in the psyche is holding back from processing the emotions and deciding to keep them stuck.

Can we do it on our own? I was told it was dangerous.

[Mulky]

To me it seems fine to do alone, just get yourself situated in a safe position and don't juggle knives or anything while you do it  im not a medical expert though.

[Buba]

13 minutes ago, Mulky said:

To me it seems fine to do alone, just get yourself situated in a safe position and don't juggle knives or anything while you do it  im not a medical expert though.

I have done it only once in a group in the guidance of a teacher, who told us, "dont try it at home, it is dangerous." He said it is from bhairav tantra.

[DefinitelyNotARobot]

Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate it!