Sometimes feelings arise based on beliefs, stories, or thoughts we may have about ourselves. And it can feel as though the story is true, because of the very real  emotional response it causes in the body. 

I want you to remember that these feelings, and the stories attached to them, might feel  very real for you right now, and at the same time that doesn't mean they are true.

If you find yourself resonating with words like "worthless" or "weak", that doesn't mean you are  worthless or weak. Or you might find yourself feeling anxious about a situation, but that doesn't mean the story  attached to the anxiety is true – it feels real, but that doesn't mean it's always true.

Emotions are automatic programs. They happen automatically. No emotion is good or bad. They are simply messengers that the brain uses to tell us things. Emotions just are. And they always make sense when we place them in context.

Your feelings just are — they aren't good or bad, they aren't true or false, we don't have to stop them, we don't have to judge them —we can simply allow them to exist and release naturally through the body. 

I say that no emotion is good or bad, and that is 100% true, because emotions just are, but I do want to of course acknowledge that sometimes emotions might not feel good to experience — they can feel downright awful. 

While they can feel painful, I want you to remember that these feelings are not  trying to hurt you. Emotions are not  dangerous, even if it feels like they are. 

Emotions are a natural force. Think of it as an ocean wave that rises in the beginning, reaches a peak, and then flows away at the end. 

Just like a wave, at some point all emotions will naturally start to ebb and flow away back into the ocean. This is built into its programming — emotions are meant to be used as temporary  alerts in the brain, so it makes sense that they are not designed to be permanent. Most core emotions, when they’re allowed to flow naturally, only last a few minutes.

And what follows once the wave ebbs and the emotion passes? We usually feel relief. A sigh on the out-breath. A sense of settling. A feeling of relaxation and letting go. 

What we often can’t tolerate and try to resist is the peak — when an emotion and its sensations are rising in intensity, and it feels like it’s only ever going to get worse. Resisting this peak is like stopping the wave from being able to actually flow. 

By releasing our resistance to the ocean wave, we are allowing the emotion to naturally ebb and pass on its own. 

Letting go of resistance doesn’t mean letting yourself be ruled by emotions. It doesn’t mean letting yourself express every emotion that washes over you into the face of every person or object that you come across. It isn’t about having to be overwhelmed by them.

It’s just about learning to watch or ride that wave when necessary.

We can still use discernment, we can still use judgement. We can still choose to distract or inhibit when we need space from our feelings. The biggest word for me here is being able to choose — and knowing that we don't always have to resist our emotions and can instead just let them be, and still be okay, can empower us to have that choice. 

For me letting go of resistance means again and again, giving kindness to yourself and the emotions you are experiencing. 

The sensations, impulses, and thoughts that go along with emotions can feel very strong, but this doesn't mean we should necessarily act  on any of the impulses listed here without first thinking about the impact of those actions.

The aim when using this list is to simply learn to navigate  our feelings first so that we can understand our own internal experiences a little better. And we can start with the acronym NAV:

• Name what we're feeling 
• Accept what we're feeling
• Validate what we're feeling

And then we can take informed action, if we need to.