Times of Change Create Big Emotional Responses

Woo-hoo! it was a beautiful weekend in Austin. (If you're in a colder climate, I feel you, and I'm sending you the warmth of the Texas sun...). If you're in my neck of the woods, I hope you got out and enjoyed some sunshine! I think I got a dose of a Spring cleaning urge, because now my front yard is cleaned up, my car is washed, and my windows...well, you can see through them again. :) 

The Texas weather this weekend reminds me how close we are to enjoying the sun on our skin and the wildflowers emerging all around us. This is why we've timed our next Women's Retreat: EMERGE, for Saturday, March 1! I imagine we have a little winter weather left in our season, but we know that inevitably the season will shift and we'll be in Spring high gear. Let's joyfully move into wildflower season together! 

And speaking of emerging, how do your emotions emerge when you are in times of stress or trying to navigate change? Do you explode, implode, freeze up, overflow, or lose all sense of healthy boundaries? Or maybe a combo of all of these? You are not alone. 

For many of us, times of change create some big emotional responses.  As I talk about in this week's podcst Epsidoe 51: A Practice for Emotional Overwhelm, there are some things we can do to soften the blow and learn from what comes up. 

First, cry if you wanna. A good cry is so cathartic–it can take the edge off of some of your more intense feelings, plus when we cry, our body releases endorphins and oxytocin, which have calming and soothing effects. So don’t think for a moment that if you get emotional it means you failed or did something wrong–the opposite is true! You have a front row seat to the feelings inside you that need releasing–so go for it. Cry it out! 

Being emotional is only a shadow when the unhealthy aspects of your emotions take over. For chakra two, that’s often undeserved guilt, but as the emotional center of the system, I believe it can be any of the darker sides of our mental-emotional connections, which only need addressing and validating so as to not be forced down and made to sit in your subconscious, creating patterns and causing chaos and confusion. 

So how do we navigate change without letting our emotions lead the show?

Breathe. Fill up your pelvic bowl with prana, your intelligent life force, by breathing deeply and give the energy there a place to go. In Episode 51 I take you through a short experience of recalling a difficult situation, then do some ratio breathing, and see if your emotional charge around the situation changes. Go wherever you listen to podcasts and check it out! I'd love to hear how it goes for you. 

Finally, I have to say the first New Moon Intention session was a great success! We focused on the energies where the Lunar New year, the New Moon in Aquarius, The Year of the Snake, and chakra one all overlap, and some beautiful and powerful themes emerged for us to work with in developing our intentions, such as: 

Releasing Fear & Limiting Beliefs – Letting go of fears, false beliefs, and outdated patterns (fear of retiring, fear of being misunderstood, false beliefs about inadequacy).

Embracing Change & New Beginnings – Many are stepping into a new chapter of life with openness and curiosity (retirement, new perspectives, personal growth).

Empowerment & Self-Trust – Recognizing personal strengths, leadership, creativity, and independence.

You can sign up for the Chakra Savvy Community if you want to catch the replay. 

The next New Moon Intention session is on Thursday, February 27 at 5pm central, and I hope you join us! We will look at where the New Moon in Pisces overlaps with the energy of chakra two. Hint hint: it’s all about creating the best environment for our personal abode 🙂Sign up anytime at jessgoulding.com/chakrasavvy,

Until then, may you embrace your emotions as a means of communication between you and your inner self, and may you honor those emotions with acceptance and attention. 

Much love