Tag: feelings

Follow Your Heart? But How? – The Kairos Approach

Post author By Richard
Post date August 18, 2014
No Comments on Follow Your Heart? But How? – The Kairos Approach

How often have you heard “Follow Your Heart”? How often have you thought “OK, but how?!!”

You may have heard a version that says “Follow Your Heart but Take Your Head With You”. I believe that this is more useful – and below is my understanding of this widespread invitation to use our intuition.

There are several references to the theories of Transactional Analysis (or ‘TA’) but don’t worry if these are of no interest to you – they aren’t essential to understanding my ideas.

Two versions of time

When we talk about time, our meanings are usually quantitative and describe, quite precisely, when something was, when it started or how long it lasted. This is the world of seconds, minutes & years.

But there is another aspect to time, a more qualitative one, which has far less to do with the measurable, cause-and-effect perspective and more to do with ‘what this time is like’ or the inherent qualities and texture of the time under consideration.

The causal, quantitative quality of time is everywhere and we are very used to working with it – in our diaries, our timetables and in making scientific measurements. This is incredibly useful when, for example, we want to travel by air or plan an event. But the acausal, qualitative view of time does also manage to find its way into our lives, and also has great value.

The seasons, for example, have strongly qualitative textures. We know Spring from autumn, and know which season we are in, but it’s very difficult to say precisely when each season starts or ends. Rather, a morning will come along when we know that ‘Spring is in the air’ or a tree will show us the ‘first signs’ of autumn.

For speakers of the Romance languages (e.g. French) the two qualities of time may be much more apparent. ‘Le jour’ is a specific day of 24 hours or that part of it which is not night. ‘La journee’ has a more sensory quality – it is a day spent with someone, or doing something, and need not have a meaning to the speaker of a specific, measurable period of time.

Introducing Kairos

For very ancient peoples it’s likely that this qualitative perspective on time predominated. But in the classical period (Ancient Greece & Rome) both perspectives were more commonplace. So the Greeks had two deities to represent time – Chronos (for quantitative, measured time) and Kairos (for qualitative, experienced time).

Images and descriptions of Kairos include the following features;

He has wings on his back and feet – this gives him a fleeting and fast approaching quality.
He has a tuft of hair on the front of his head – the forelock by which we can grab him.
He has the back of his head shaven – if we miss his forelock there’s no way to grab him from behind.

For Greeks ancient and modern, kairos also means ‘the weather’ and kairoi are ‘the times’ as in ‘we live in difficult times’. Again, the qualitative, experiential, non-scientific mode of referring to time is used.

Opportunity knocks but once… (proverb)

Kairos represents the way in which time offers us opportunity. Opportunity arises suddenly, and seemingly from nowhere, and our job is to grab it by the forelock. If we delay then opportunity flies by. We miss it, and there’s no way to recapture it. Our only hope is to let lost opportunities go, to face forward, face oncoming Kairos so that when the next opportunity presents we are ready to take hold, to grab his tuft of hair.

Seizing the Day – Carpe Diem

rushing Here’s my opportunity to take some energy out of a popular Western myth! ‘Seize the day’ has come to mean ‘jump out of bed and get on with it…, fill all your time…, live life to the max…’.

This idea invites us to ‘do, do, do…’ until we drop, and to ‘drive, drive, drive…’ until we’ve ‘made it’.

From a TA (Transactional Analysis) perspective this is an invitation to engage in our TA Driver behaviour which ultimately invites us towards the payoff of our early life scripting rather than towards autonomy, spontaneity and intimacy.

When the poet Horace wrote (Odes 1:11) “fugerit invida aetas; carpe diem…” (envious time will have fled, seize the day…) he chose two feminine nouns for ‘time’ and ‘day’.

And the verb ‘carpere’ can also be used to mean ‘harvest/pick/pluck’ or even to ‘enjoy’.

In a World-view which knew Kairos, Horace’s ‘fleeing time’ and ‘seizing’ are more consistent with a lesson about meeting opportunity as it arises (seizing the tuft of hair on Kairos’s forehead) and enjoying the benefits this offers rather than hammering every last ounce of ‘progress’ out of each day in order to ‘meet our goals’.

Horace’s idea is more consistent with ‘gather ye rosebuds while ye may’ (Herrick) or the more rebellious ‘When Life hands you lemons, make lemonade’ (from a TA perspective this sense of determination is functionally +RAC).

Kairos In Spiritual Psychology

A fully acausal view of time includes the idea that for each ‘season’ or ‘era’ (nouns for time in English which have an acausal, qualitative feel) only certain events are fitting or even possible.

If we grow tomatoes (in the UK) then we just cannot have fruit in January or November. Precisely when we can have fruit is uncertain – tomatoes, and natural processes generally, don’t work to a chronos calendar. Even commercially, with modern F1 hybrids, a grower will be working towards ‘week 26’ with some degree of uncertainty, and keeping an eye on the weather (kairoi).

A fully acausal view sees all of Life’s activity in this way including starting a business, going on holiday or moving home.

In Ecclesiastes 3 (The Tanakh & The Old Testament) there is ‘a season for every activity under the heavens’ including ‘a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…’.

In the Greek versions of the Old Testament the word ‘kairos’ is used here over and over.

It may be possible to act or begin activities without regard to the ‘season’ and what is fitting for the season. But this is ‘pushing against the river’ and may become ‘driven’ (see TA drivers), uses a lot of energy and other resources and may miss the opportunities presented by Kairos.

Toolkit – Working with Kairos

So how do we use this qualitative concept of time to help us know how to live? Sometimes I meet clients who just don’t know what they want, or have lost contact with how to ‘hear’ (internally) what they need and what their ‘heart’ (or intuition) is telling them.

There are a number of tools I offer for this. And working with Kairos is a useful one of these tools.

shopping trolley As an example to begin working I’ll look at supermarket shopping, something that many people get involved in.

Example – The ‘cause-and-effect’ way to go to the supermarket…

One way to do the shopping is to imagine the week unfolding ahead of you and write a list of all the meals you’re going to have, then write a list of all their constituents or ingredients. Then, you walk around the house to see if anything else is running low, and add that to the list. Then, we head off to the supermarket and buy everything we’ve written down.

If you’ve ever shopped like this you’ll know it can be quite effective, especially if you’re working to a limited budget or special dietary needs. However, often, something will happen at the supermarket that invites you away from such a rigid process…. For example, you see the most beautiful bunch of grapes…

Example – An acausal way to shop – inviting in Kairos…

If we look more closely at the image of Kairos we see three more important features

He is carrying scales
He has his hand on one side of the scales, so that the balance is his way
He is balancing the scales on a razor

Based on this, I offer clients a four step process – stopping, dancing, balancing, acting.

Stopping – This is really an invitation to develop a regular meditation practice. However, as a minimum, before heading off to the supermarket there needs to be a degree of harmony, of breathing from the abdomen, of mindfulness. I refer to the balance in Kairos’s hand as a reminder.

Playing/Dancing – here’s where the fun starts. This is the dance around the supermarket. Of course you’ll need to attend to your ‘basic shop’. But can you ‘feel a pull’ today, towards, say a particular shelf or counter? Are you salivating at that head of broccoli or interested in that jar of chilli jam? Where would the trolley want to go? Missing out some aisles perhaps? Doubling back along others? Did you really smell that bread?

And what other feelings are arising? Boredom amongst the breakfast cereal? Gratitude at the fish counter?

There is an analogy here in the ‘leading’ that Quakers may feel during Waiting Worship – we can wait and listen and value what is felt.

This doesn’t mean simply putting all these interesting items in your trolley! At this stage we are just ensuring that our felt, qualitative version of the process is at least available to us. And that we are available to the process.

You may well ask “But won’t I just end up with lots of weird stuff and sweet stuff at the checkout, and just over-spend?” Well, you may do if you just went with the dance and bought whatever you’re led to. But this is where the next steps are important – balancing & deciding.

Thinking/Measuring/Balancing – here’s where you get to be the grown-up (from a TA perspective this is about deploying integrated Adult and Nurturing Parent ego states). Kairos offers us the scales with which to measure and weigh options. Although he has a hand on one side of the scales and would invite you (all other things being equal) to come down on his side, the scales are held out in front, preceding his forelock, preceding this opportunity. You are invited to consider, to weigh, to balance, to think.

At the supermarket, maybe that cream cake is attractive. But you already have one in your trolley. If you were dealing with an eight-year old you might say “OK, but if you choose that cake you’ll need to put the other one back”.

Effective thinking requires information. Which information is important depends on the project you’re working with or the opportunity Kairos is offering whether it be career, relationships, moving home or whatever. At the supermarket the information is likely to be around budgeting, value and nutritional content. And you wouldn’t buy ice-cream if you have a three-hour journey home.

There is a risk with this thinking and measuring and balancing because it’s fairly easy to convince yourself out of following Kairos’s direction – like ‘well I’m not sure…’ or ‘will I like it?’ or ‘what will they think?’. From a TA viewpoint this is getting stuck in scripty parenting styles (ego state P1) where we replay internal messages like;

‘I don’t deserve it’
‘That’s not for the likes of me’
‘Who do I think I am?’
‘That’ll never work’
‘I just can’t decide’
‘They’ll say I’m silly’

None of this is rationalising. These doubts may seem rational like ‘It’s a waste of money if I they won’t eat it’. But if it’s within budget and nutritionally OK and you want it from a deeper place then go with the Kairos.

At this point, it’s worth knowing about physis, or the Universal impulse to grow. Universal Process invites each of us to move towards a more autonomous and enlightened place characterised by increasing awareness, intimacy and spontaneity. The growthful energy within each of us is irreversible and constantly moves us forward (think of a germinating seed or a growing child – living things never go ‘into reverse’). From an external viewpoint physis may not look like a tendency to normalisation. However, when Kairos is presenting an opportunity you will not be being invited to do something irrational or harmful.

If you feel the urge to

Harm someone or potentially harm someone in some way
Harm yourself in some way or potentially harm yourself in some way

Then these are not urges to seize opportunity presented by Universal Process (In TA, they are outdated script messages from P1). Kairos invites action on our part in line with our growthful tendency, or individual physis.

At the supermarket, if you have an urge to buy your first-ever liver or linguine, and you’ve checked that it’s nutritionally OK for everyone and within budget then this is part of your growthful direction in this season of your life. Your family may look surprised. Internally you may question your boldness – these are simply more internal, script messages (P1). Physis may not look like ‘normal’ but greater things are happening. On the other hand, if the linguine is going to take you over budget this is an Adult block. If the liver is going to knowingly invite an allergic reaction there needs to be a nurturative block. In these cases, the urge was not a call of Kairos in the first place. Physis is not characterised by struggle with real-world limitations.

Deciding/Acting/Cutting – In his hand, the hand held out towards you, Kairos holds a razor. When we cut, when we use scissors, or make an incision or an excision, we permanently let go of all the alternatives except the one we are choosing. Decisions are just the same, we drop the thinking about options and act. A hairdresser makes hundreds of irreversible decisions with their scissors each day!

Everything so far has been hypothetical. Now, Kairos invites action. Failing to grasp his forelock is to lose the opportunity. He will soon be gone.

Kairos Flowchart

The example at the supermarket may seem superficial but these types of situation involve ‘smaller’ outcomes so they are a great way to practice tuning into Kairos. Similar situations may be

Decorating your home.
What you create in your garden
How to spend a weekend off or where to go on holiday
Choosing a gift for someone
Deciding what to wear – watch out for the P1 messages here. What you wear is very public so invitations to normalise (P1) will be strong. “What will they think if I wear the purple?” Over-compliance may not take you forward. But then, over-rebelliousness may also be a risk because effectiveness in certain situations (e.g. in business) may mean some ‘towing the line’ (In TA terms, allow your integrated Adult to monitor your compliant/rebellious adapted child ego states).

At a universal level, there is no difference in the process whether the outcomes are ‘small’ or ‘big’. Physis operates in the same way for a dandelion seed as for an acorn. From our perspective, some situations may invite greater dread and this worry operates against the stopping and playful/dancing stages. After some practice the Kairos Approach is useful in ‘Bigger’ situations too, like

Making career decisions
Deciding where to live/relocate
Starting or changing a business
Beginning or making a change in a relationship

Getting support with ‘following your heart’.

At different places above I have used references to Transactional Analysis or ‘TA’. This is a powerful model of communication, relating and psychotherapy that can help in many ways when people feel stuck or when faced with difficult challenges.

If you’re feeling like some support in this area could be useful contact me to arrange an introductory meeting where we can explore what’s happening for you in this life season.

Tags authentic feelings, feelings, transactional analysis

Understanding Ourselves

Beginning to Talk about Feelings

Post author By Richard
Post date February 7, 2014
No Comments on Beginning to Talk about Feelings

Feelings are natural reactions. Just like hunger or thirst, if we didn’t need them our bodies wouldn’t do all the physical/hormonal parts so effectively, consistently or universally.

Like hunger or thirst, our feelings are offering us information. Think of this information system as an old-fashioned ‘dashboard’ telling you, in a pre-historic, chemical way, what’s happening.

Getting by without doing a lot of ‘feeling’ is possible but you could be missing useful information.

‘Talking Feelings’ is passing on this information to someone else

‘Naming’ feelings, getting a language for the feelings you are able to contact, is a good way to begin. If people hadn’t had lots of feelings over the millennia we wouldn’t have so many words like ‘hurt’, ‘frustrated’, ‘excited’…

Start by naming the somatic feelings you have as they arise – hungry, tired…

When the feelings arise, can you say the words e.g. “I feel hungry” or “I feel tired” to yourself? What’s it like when you say that to yourself?

How about saying your feelings out loud, maybe into the mirror, or to someone else? When you say “I feel really tired”, you’ve just passed some information about yourself to someone else.

When the feelings arise, can you say the words “I feel sad” or “I feel frustrated” to yourself? What’s it like to say that to yourself? Again this is information about how you’re reacting to the circumstances you find yourself in.

How about saying your feelings out loud, maybe into the mirror, or to someone else? When you say “I feel a little sad today” you may experience a ‘kick back’, a sense of shame or dread at having said this to another. Perhaps there is a sense of ‘being weak’ or a sense of some risk about ‘where all this might lead’. These secondary feelings are simply more feelings arising in The River of Feelings. Observe them and treat them gently. And if expressing your feelings like this seems too uncomfortable, go back to your old ways for a while.

It may be tempting to use expressions that keep a distance between you and your feelings like “This makes me tired” or “It’s a sad film” rather than “I feel tired”, “I feel sad.”

When you say ‘a sad film’ you’re saying that the film has invited sadness in you and you feel sad. Remember, saying “I feel sad watching this film…” is giving some information about yourself. You’re not inviting anyone to fix your sadness, or saying you want to switch off the film. And it’s OK to give that information.

What you might be noticing is that none of this has hurt you. None of it has hurt anyone. You may have noticed that all this is quite safe.

Getting support with feelings

Remember that everyone is different and any self-help process can only offer ideas in general terms. It may be that ‘dealing with feelings’, especially uncomfortable ones, means working with someone who is qualified to support you.

Why not book an initial assessment session with a counsellor/therapist who is registered with a nationally recognised professional body (such as BACP or UKCP in the UK)?

Tags feelings

Understanding Ourselves

Saving ‘Feelings’ Stamps

The TA Model of ‘Psychological Trading Stamps’

Are you old enough to remember Green Shield stamps or Coop stamps? Each time we made a purchase in a certain shop, we were given a sticky stamp to stick in a savings book. When the book was full of stamps we could hand-in the full book to get a discount off our next purchase. They were a ‘loyalty’ idea before today’s electronic loyalty cards, where we save points instead.

The ‘savings stamps’ model can also be applied to our feelings. What we may do is save a stamp for a particular feeling, instead of expressing it.

So, someone may save ‘anger’ stamps rather than expressing their anger. Someone else may save ‘not heard’ stamps rather than feeling and expressing their sense of not being heard with e.g. “It’s like you couldn’t hear what I was saying in the meeting… what was happening for you when I was talking about…”

The difficulty comes when we have built up a collection of our familiar stamps. What to do with them? How to ‘cash them in’ to get rid of them?

Suppose I had a run-in with my manger today which invited feelings of anger. The feelings of anger indicate there is a problem here between us that needs to be fixed. Yet, instead of expressing that anger and negotiating a solution, I saved an ‘anger stamp’.

The ‘benefit’ of saving the stamp is that I coped, and didn’t fall out with my manager. This keeps things as they are between us rather than ‘upsetting the applecart’.

But now I have a stamp in my book. What I may do is ‘cash-in’ the stamp when I get home, getting cross with the cat for running in front of me, or taking it out on my partner for some minor ‘fault’. This gets rid of the ‘anger stamp’. But note the following two problems with this process;

I’ve damaged my relationship with my partner who may now feel confused or upset by my behaviour
I didn’t solve the initial problem that has arisen with my line-manager

Instead of ‘cashing in’ the anger stamp when I got home I could have kept it in my collection for later. This is a way to build quite a big collection. And I may be able to keep hold of this collection for years before ‘cashing it in’ in a spectacular rage with someone or something who, again, may well not be involved.

Remaining aware of our feelings, becoming aware of the information they are offering then expressing them is the effective way through. It moves us on in relationships where there is a problem, and maintains relationships which are not related to the problem.

Getting support with feelings

Remember that everyone is different and any self-help process can only offer ideas in general terms. It may be that expressing feelings, rather than saving them up, means working with someone who is qualified to support you.

Why not book an initial assessment session with a counsellor/therapist who is registered with a nationally recognised professional body (such as BACP or UKCP in the UK)?

Tags anger, feelings

Understanding Ourselves

The River of Feelings

This is an idea borrowed from Buddhism with a little help from Transactional Analysis.

Imagine standing by a river which is flowing from left to right.

On the left, feelings arise and come to the water’s surface, they flow past us then, somewhere to the right, they disappear in the stream. There is a constant flow of feelings arising, flowing by, then disappearing.

Our inner World of feelings is just like that.

Our feelings are like the weather. There is never a time without weather. The weather is never ‘gone’. Rather, it changes from one thing to another – A bright dawn, a raging storm, ‘heavy’ clouds, a clear night…

As we stand by the River of Feelings the water never ceases and feelings arise, flow by and disappear only to be replaced by the next feeling, and the next… This moment sadness, this moment boredom, this moment restless, this moment resigned, this moment cheerful…

Some weather is pleasant weather, some weather is harsh weather. And we use words like ‘good’ and ‘bad’. With feelings too, some feelings are easier to experience than others.

As we stand by the River of Feelings we can choose to;

Not look at the river, not look at the feelings flowing by, but instead look way across the river to the other bank or, even further, to the horizon (see 1. below)
Notice a particular feeling flowing by, get so ‘hooked’ by it we lose our footing and ‘dive in’ after the feeling (see 2. below)
Simply choose to ‘just observe’ the feelings flowing by. (see 3. below)

Are any of these three approaches to ‘doing’ our feelings familiar to you?

The River of Feelings – 1. Being Strong

If ‘doing’ feelings was something that wasn’t really ‘stroked’ when we were growing up it might be easiest not to look into the river too much. We may have learnt that –

Having feelings makes us weak
We should stay ‘in control’ of our feelings
If we show our feelings then it will make others feel bad
Our feelings would be overwhelming – like a genie, once they’re out of the bottle we’re in trouble.

If we have early-life decisions about ‘not feeling’ then feelings may start to ‘leak’ around the edges. These ‘leaks’ of feeling may show up –

By ‘somatisation’ – e.g. instead of feeling sad at losing someone close we may experience chest pain (‘feeling broken hearted’). Physical feelings can be more ‘acceptable’ to us.
When there is an enormous invitation to ‘feel’ e.g. losing a parent or being physically threatened, the invitation to ‘look into the river’ has a higher voltage and the feelings may ‘leak’.
When we’re more ‘off guard’ e.g. drifting into sleep, during dreams or as we awake.
When a highly-functioning individual arrives in therapy asking ‘Am I going mad?’

Putting feelings aside can be a useful coping strategy sometimes. If you are a paramedic who attends the scene of a road accident or a soldier who is injured in combat the most effective may through may be to suspend your most natural reactions to feel e.g. sickened or fearful. However, too much of this can be costly.

When we meet someone who has difficulty looking into the river of feelings we need to be with them compassionately. Early decisions about ‘not feeling’ are not easy for this person to override. ‘Beginning to feel’ may be a frightening experience.

However, there is a benefit to overcoming this and being able to observe the river of feelings as the feelings flow by – The information that each feeling offers us becomes available to inform our decisions and choices from moment to moment.

The River of Feelings – 2. Diving In

For those who are more aware of the River of Feelings flowing in front of them there is another way to lose the benefit of the information that our feelings are offering us – ‘diving in’ after the feelings and getting all tangled-up in them.

I get into work and see a colleague using my desk & chair. I feel ‘cheated’.

This is giving me some information about a resource I call ‘mine’ which ‘another’ appears to be denying me. Within this organisational structure a boundary has been crossed and, in order to continue in my role effectively, I need a resolution. The boundary gives us a clue that ‘cheated’ is a fancy flavour of small-to-medium size ‘angry’. An effective solution is to approach this colleague, ask what they need, state what I need and negotiate a solution. Something like; “Yes, of course it’s fine to make your call but I have to make a start so you’ll need to stand.”

However, suppose I have beliefs like “They always just take what they want” or “You can’t trust them”, this ‘cheated’ feeling may resonate with something very old. Perhaps I was the youngest sibling in a family where there wasn’t ever enough to go around.

I start to run with it. “This colleague confirms everything I knew about people… And I’ve a good mind to tell my boss, not that she’ll do anything, she’s as bad as the rest… if he hasn’t gone by the time I get back from the coffee machine I’ll…”

This feeling is only too clearly felt. I invite it into my whole being, I’m drowning in it. I’m clinging onto the ‘cheated’ feeling and being washed downstream. Importantly –

The information that the feeling offers me (about a boundary being crossed) is being missed. Instead, I’m using it to reinforce very generalised & outdated views of ‘how the World is’ and how I fit into it.
My thinking has been suspended – sure, my ‘cognitive process’ is running but real problem-solving from a rational place is ‘on hold’. So I’m less likely to get what I need, and less likely to see how good I am at fixing these sorts of situation.

When we meet someone who is drowning in the River of Feelings we need to be with them compassionately. Early decisions about ‘how the World is’ and ‘how I fit into it’ are not easy for this person to override. Beginning to think and feel at the same time may be very challenging.

The River of Feelings – 3. The Way Through – observing our feelings.

Standing by the River of Feelings and simply observing the feelings as they arise, flow past then disappear is the way through. Imagine watching the weather through the window. There’s no need to look away, or get all ‘caught up’ in what we see.

To experience at least the more weighty feelings then, if necessary, use the information that the feeling are offering is an effective way to be in the World.

Here’s some information that you may not know – We can Think and Feel at the same time. Just as we can watch the weather, and decide that the best course of action is to wear a warm coat, or hang out our laundry in the breeze. These are good decisions based on what we’re experiencing.

It is possible to experience a feeling and remain able to ‘think’ whilst it’s going on. Many people do this. By ‘thinking’ here we mean actual problem-solving, not just cognitive background.

It may take some practice to contact the majority of feelings as they flow by and use the information they offer. Mindfulness or relaxation techniques can help develop this skill.

Getting support with feelings

Why not book an initial assessment session with a counsellor/therapist who is registered with a nationally recognised professional body (such as BACP or UKCP in the UK)?

Tags buddhism, feelings

Understanding Ourselves

Take the ‘Feelings 101’

Would you like to understand your feelings better? Perhaps you have questions like;

Why do I always end up feeling this way?
Why won’t this feeling just ‘go away’?
Why should I feel like this now? I’ve been it some tough situations, and they were no problem to me.
What’s the point of feeling bad? Don’t I just need to ‘snap out of it’ or ‘pull myself together’?
Am I going mad? I didn’t used to respond like this.
Will I ever feel better? I feel so hopeless.
Will I ever feel better? No one can bring back such a special person.

It may be that, back in our early family situations, ‘doing’ lots of feeling wasn’t especially welcome. And in many contemporary Western settings, bringing our feelings to situations with work colleagues, neighbours and community, friends or family may not be the most ‘acceptable’ way forward.

Yet our feelings are a natural internal response to our experiences and the circumstances we find ourselves in. Ignoring them or ‘pushing them away’ potentially misses the information they are offering about our current reality.

As we begin to understand, contact, explore and express our feelings we find that;

They’re a useful source of information
We’re less ‘on autopilot’ and respond more to here-and-now reality
We’re more aware of what we need
We take more care of ourselves
We’re more ‘in contact’ with other people
We’re able to be more spontaneous

This ‘Feelings 101’ or Introduction to Feelings is a number of pages that look at ideas like;

What our feelings are
Why we have feelings
What feelings mean
How our feelings work
How to get started, and do more with feelings
Why we have bad feelings
Why we have some bad feelings over and over
How we can have fewer of these recurring bad feelings

The articles link together. But clicking on the ‘Feelings 101’ logo will always bring you back to this start page.

A useful way to ‘take the Feelings 101’ is to read each article in order from this list below. However, each article is written to ‘stand alone’ and you might want to dip into the ones that seem most interesting.

Take the ‘Feelings 101’ and make a start with your feelings!

Getting support with feelings
Remember that everyone is different and any self-help process can only offer ideas in general terms. It may be that ‘dealing with feelings’, especially uncomfortable ones, means working with someone who is qualified to support you.
Why not book an initial assessment session with a counsellor/therapist who is registered with a nationally recognised professional body (such as BACP or UKCP in the UK)?

Tags anger, Anxiety, fear, feelings, Panic, sadness, TA, transactional analysis

Understanding Ourselves

Authentic Feelings – a great source of information

Post author By Richard
Post date January 17, 2014
No Comments on Authentic Feelings – a great source of information

Why have feelings? What’s the point? Feelings are natural reactions to real situations. They have a physical and a psychological impact. They are useful because they give us information about the situation we are it. Not having feelings would be to miss this useful (sometimes vital) information!

Somatic Feelings – information from our bodies
If I feel hunger, thirst or tiredness these are physiological responses to physical realities.
The realities are (in order) ‘my body needs food’, ‘my body needs water’ or ‘my body needs sleep’.
The same goes for feeling hot, shivering with cold or feeling poorly. The realities here are ‘my body is at too high a temperature’, ‘my body is at too low a temperature’ or ‘my body isn’t working as usual’.

These somatic feelings (e.g. ‘hunger’, ‘thirst’ and ‘tiredness’) are ways for our bodies to give us information about the immediate physical realities at that time.
We can then use our ‘thinking’ to change these physical realities e.g. by getting food, water or sleep. Or by turning down the heating, pulling on a jumper or seeing our GP.
In short, these somatic feelings are providing us with useful information that we can use. Let me emphasise that last point – the information we are getting from these feelings is something we can take into account as we do something different.
Without the feelings we would starve, dehydrate or burn out etc. without getting to know in advance that it was about to happen.

Authentic Feelings – a source of information.
If I’m walking in the jungle and a leopard appears I may feel fear.
If I’m awoken in my hotel room by loud music from next door then I may feel anger.
If my best friend said ‘Goodbye’ last week I may feel sad.

Notice how these feelings also have physiological components e.g. racing heart, tense muscles and tearful eyes. Our physiology for these feelings also includes hormonal activity.

So, by comparison with the somatic feelings, what information are these feelings providing?

Fear – tells us that there is a problem in the immediate future that we don’t yet have a solution for (e.g. the leopard).
Anger – tells us that there is a problem in the present which we don’t yet have a solution for (e.g. the noise).
Sadness – tells us that there is a problem in the recent past that we don’t yet have a solution for (e.g. the loss of our friend).

So, these feelings are hormonal and physical internal reactions and point to unresolved problems just as with somatic feelings. Again, our feelings are giving us information.
Just as with the somatic ‘bad’ feelings (e.g. hunger) these ‘bad’ feelings (e.g. sadness) tend to highlight some external circumstance that is, to some degree or other, causing an external stress.
And, just as with the somatic feelings, we can use thinking to find a way to solve the problem (e.g. shoot the leopard, tell the person in the street that we need them to be more careful, Skype or replace our friend).

In Transactional Analysis these three ‘bad’ feelings (Fear, Anger, Sadness) along with Joy are described as ‘authentic’.

Expressing Authentic Feelings finishes them.

Expressing authentic feelings is a very ‘clean’ process. As we feel the sadness of losing our friend, naturally cry, and ‘hear’ the information, the loss, that the feeling is offering to us, the feeling soon passes. There is a sense of completeness and ease, with no ‘aftershocks’ or ‘rumblings’. When authentic feelings are expressed, they are done with. And we can get on and use the information they offered to us – like Skyping our friend.

The same is true of an authentic expression of anger. If I really allow the feelings of anger when I’m awoken in the night I ‘hear’ my urge to be attacking and to ‘make them change’. Using thinking, I decide the most effective solution is to ‘phone reception and express assertively just how much I need my neighbour to ‘turn it down’. Having allowed this anger, it is complete. It doesn’t rumble on or come back in waves. I get back to sleep.

Other feelings are not so ‘Authentic’
Having feelings like ‘panic’, ‘guilty’ or ‘feeling invisible’ or ‘frustrated’ isn’t so straightforward. They are certainly real feelings in the sense that they may come as a strong reaction to the circumstances we find ourselves in.
But when we consider the information they offer it doesn’t seem so clear. And, these feelings have a tendency to recur, or just ‘rumble on’ after the event that triggers them.
In TA, these feelings are considered to be inauthentic, or ‘racket’ feelings, quite unlike the four authentic feelings of joy, sadness, anger and fear.

Tags anger, authentic feelings, fear, feelings, Panic, racket feelings, sadness, TA