Feeling can be messy, especially when it concerns the hard parts of life. Like loss. Or illness. Which are similar because illness does involve loss in one way or another.
But those feelings? The ones that surround loss and sickness?
They can be scary things. So painful.
Have you ever been afraid that if you started crying you’d never stop?
I know that fear. It caused me to stuff emotions so I could avoid actually feeling them.
But did it make those emotions go away? No. They hung around because I never dealt with them. They even affected how my life unfolded. The decisions I made. The things I did.
Feeling is one of the keys to a healthy life
Because feeling is a necessary part of getting through life. Oh, we can put it off. But in the end, the piper must be paid.
That is, if we want a healthy life.
Grief was hard for me. A dark cloud of sorrow followed me wherever I went but even so, I tried hard not to feel into it. What I finally realized was that as long as I avoided feeling my grief, that black cloud would stick with me. Once I began to feel and even express grief, only then could I begin to heal.
I think it’s that way with sickness, too. I have friends with Crohn’s, with lupus, with MS who write about it, and in the writing, they feel. Sure, those feelings are messy. But these sharers are miles ahead of those who try to avoid it.
Expressing feelings helps with side effects & symptoms
I know a bunch of people undergoing cancer treatment. Those who talk about it, refer to it, share about it seem to do better than those who don’t. Some people may not want to read social media posts about those feelings, but expressing them seems to be helpful. Doctors and researchers are beginning to see the healing value of expression, too.
A small study of breast cancer patients divided them in three groups. One wrote about their deepest fears, including dying. Another wrote about the positive things that came from their disease. The third group was asked to just write facts about their treatment. The groups who wrote about their feelings had fewer symptoms and doctor visits–by 1/3.
Will writing cure disease? No. Expression is not a substitute for medical treatment. But it CAN support healing in important ways and at the very least, can help ease anxiety.
What if you could have fewer symptoms and doctor visits?
That’s what inspired the development of my supportive products at A Healing Spirit. Most of us know that affirmations can be powerful, so it’s no surprise that my healing affirmation deck is popular. If you’re fighting a disease like Crohn’s, IBS, cancer, M.S. or another challenging issue, positive, healing thoughts support your efforts to deal with your reality. We know that.
Guided Journals are a newer thing. They ask you to respond to questions. The responses allow you to express your feelings–both the hard ones and the happy. Not everyone likes to write, but there are other ways to use the journal. If you’re lucky enough to draw or paint, you can do that. I like to make little collages to respond to some of the prompts. I’ll cut things out of magazines and use mementos to respond.
The guided journals–one for healing and one for grief–are 5×7 and bound to lay flat. They’re portable. You can take a healingjournalto treatment to focus on healing or to doctor visits when you expect a long wait. You can use a grief journal privately to express overwhelming grief.
To show you how to use a guided journal, I made a short video to show you how you can collage or draw to express your deepest feelings. You’ll find it on each of the guided journal pages. (I’m risking total embarrassment, because I am the world’s worst artist.)
All of these beautiful, helpful products can be found at A Healing Spirit.
Got questions? Email me at carol (at) ahealingspirit.org
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I have owned some affirmation decks before and they do help a lot. I have also given them as gifts. People are always very receptive to gifts like this.
I definitely agree that allowing yourself to actually feel feeling helps promote closure, acceptance, forgiveness and healing. Unfortunately, this is something I need to work on, as I tend to cover true emotions with anger.
I stuffed my feelings for a long time after losing my parents and about December of last year they started coming out in all kinds of inappropriate ways. Know first hand what you are talking about. Got some counseling, did some grieving & am doing better.
It’s such a wonderful idea to provide resources to people who are at a point in life where they often feel they have nowhere to turn Carol. Your journals and cards are really beautiful.
You are so right, Carol. Emotions are messy but we have to deal with them. Grief is one of the hardest for sure. Suffering a loss is indeed one of hardest I’d had to endure but having to deal with the emotions that come along with it, is everything. Love this post!
Sadly, some are taught to stuff their emotions away and stick to the facts yet, our emotions help us release grief and toxins. A dear friend recently got diagnosed with colon cancer and is having surgery on Monday. There is so much we can do to comfort others…
I know that how we view ourselves and life can affect our ability to heal from different things. So making sure that your feelings are in order and you have positive feelings can help you immensely.
Thank you for coming up with products that help people who are in the process of healing. I should have had these when my dad passed away. I would have helped me a lot.
I love journals and I bet this would be awesome. Thank you for sharing. All too often we’re taught to suppress our feelings and that’s not healthy. – yolonda
I think allowing yourself to feel ALL the feelings is one of the hardest things to do. We think that if we just ‘put it in a box’ and carry on everything will be okay. That just makes it harder sometimes. Tony is still crippled by this, he’s afraid to feel all the negative feelings he has surrounding our ‘losses’. It can be debilitating.
Yes, journaling is so important when going through loss. When my sister died, I wrote through the entire process and I really think it helped me process it all better than if I hadn’t been writing.
Feelings just doesn’t make sense but somehow it plays a huge part in our lives. I’m an introvert person and I don’t express myself that much. But I’m starting to learn to express my feelings and emotions and it makes me feel better, it heals and it works.
Here you’ll find my blog, some of my essays, published writing, and my solo performances. There’s also a link to my Etsy shop for healing and grief tools offered through A Healing Spirit.
I love comments, so if something resonates with you in any way, don’t hesitate to leave a comment on my blog. Thank you for stopping by–oh, and why not subscribe so you don’t miss a single post?
Feeling can be messy, especially when it concerns the hard parts of life. Like loss. Or illness. Which are similar because illness does involve loss in one way or another.
Grief was hard for me. A dark cloud of sorrow followed me wherever I went but even so, I tried hard not to feel into it. What I finally realized was that as long as I avoided feeling my grief, that black cloud would stick with me. Once I began to feel and even express grief, only then could I begin to heal.
That’s what inspired the development of my supportive products at 
This just gets better and better, Carol! Brilliant!
Wonderful message. Wonderful products. Wonderful mission, Carol.
I have owned some affirmation decks before and they do help a lot. I have also given them as gifts. People are always very receptive to gifts like this.
I love this so much. As much as pain can wreck us, we have to feel it if we want to heal. You can’t run from it.
I definitely agree that allowing yourself to actually feel feeling helps promote closure, acceptance, forgiveness and healing. Unfortunately, this is something I need to work on, as I tend to cover true emotions with anger.
I stuffed my feelings for a long time after losing my parents and about December of last year they started coming out in all kinds of inappropriate ways. Know first hand what you are talking about. Got some counseling, did some grieving & am doing better.
I agree that expressing feelings help. If you are going through something, having people around to support you will help in the recovery.
It’s terrible for your mind and body to keep it all in. You’ve got to just let it out and feel your feelings.
It’s such a wonderful idea to provide resources to people who are at a point in life where they often feel they have nowhere to turn Carol. Your journals and cards are really beautiful.
What a great line of products. This would make a wonderful gift for someone who is struggling. Thanks for sharing.
You are so right, Carol. Emotions are messy but we have to deal with them. Grief is one of the hardest for sure. Suffering a loss is indeed one of hardest I’d had to endure but having to deal with the emotions that come along with it, is everything. Love this post!
What a great line product! I definitely agree on expressing feeling helps. You’ve got to just let it out and feel your feelings free.
This sounds like a great company with great intentions and products. Thanks for bringing them to my attention.
I love your products Carol and can’t wait to receive my order. Thanks for sharing with us at #BloggersPitStop and have a beautiful day.
I am so excited that I can offer my sets to Australians at a reasonable price and so heavily discount shipping. I mean, EXCITED!
Sadly, some are taught to stuff their emotions away and stick to the facts yet, our emotions help us release grief and toxins. A dear friend recently got diagnosed with colon cancer and is having surgery on Monday. There is so much we can do to comfort others…
I know that how we view ourselves and life can affect our ability to heal from different things. So making sure that your feelings are in order and you have positive feelings can help you immensely.
Thank you for coming up with products that help people who are in the process of healing. I should have had these when my dad passed away. I would have helped me a lot.
I love journals and I bet this would be awesome. Thank you for sharing. All too often we’re taught to suppress our feelings and that’s not healthy. – yolonda
what a beautiful message, here it to healing
I think allowing yourself to feel ALL the feelings is one of the hardest things to do. We think that if we just ‘put it in a box’ and carry on everything will be okay. That just makes it harder sometimes. Tony is still crippled by this, he’s afraid to feel all the negative feelings he has surrounding our ‘losses’. It can be debilitating.
Yes, journaling is so important when going through loss. When my sister died, I wrote through the entire process and I really think it helped me process it all better than if I hadn’t been writing.
Feelings just doesn’t make sense but somehow it plays a huge part in our lives. I’m an introvert person and I don’t express myself that much. But I’m starting to learn to express my feelings and emotions and it makes me feel better, it heals and it works.