“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart” Helen Keller

I listened to some advice on how to manage anger. It was fascinating, a meditation teacher starting his talk by admitting that he has anger management issues. Who would have thought it?!

He asked us to close our eyes and visualise a situation in which we’d felt angry. There was, I’m certain, much more to it, but the part that stuck with me was becoming creative with my anger. How did that anger make me feel? What did it make me feel like doing? And then could I visualise myself doing that? Give it a go see how it works for you! In my visualisation of how I felt in the angry situation, I found myself jumping around (or at least visualising myself doing so!). Kind of like I was in an aerobics class with pop music blaring.

I was surprised at how much it helped at that moment. Of course, that was just a visualisation related to a memory of anger. So, I don’t know whether I could apply it in real time, but even if I can apply it looking back, then I think that’s going to be helpful.

Today my feeling is grief. Deep, deep sadness. I thought I’d try the same thing again. Could I become creative with that grief? How did that feeling make me act or behave? What could I visualise?

Instantly, I was lying on the sand in the surf of waves crashing on the beach. Not huge, engulfing waves. Not tiny little ripples. Something in the middle. The wave crashes down, and it draws back into the sea, and it crashes down, and it draws back into the sea. It crashes down, and it draws back into the sea… It just keeps going and it’s going. It’s relentless. There’s no change in the waves. There’s no escalation. There’s no easing. It’s just there for eternity. My body is letting the waves lift me and drop me and lift me and drop me. I have no resistance other than to keep my head lifted above the water. It doesn’t feel as though there’s danger or risk.

That feeling of repetitive waves of emotion, being able to just about keep my head above the water, really rings true. The experience of the visualisation brought me some peace. It’s a technique I’ll use again.

I wonder if being creative with your emotions could be helpful to you? If you’d like to share your experience, drop me a message.

Sue, www.thehorsephysio.co.uk