I read something this week that really hit home and it hit me from two sources: Martha Beck's book, The Way of Integrity, and Dr. Zach Bush's instagram feed.
Dr. Bush mentioned a study where researchers placed people inside a Faraday cage (an electromagnetically isolated chamber) and recorded their energetic emissions as they recalled different emotional stories. The expectation was that positive emotions like love and joy would produce the highest vibrations. What really happened surprised everyone, including me: negative emotions like grief, anger, despair, often generated even higher spikes. What?! Not what I would have imagined as "high vibe"....
The common factor wasn't high or low emotions actually. It was truth. It was integrity. It was about people being in their authenticity -- raw, real, and present. This then made sense to me. What an aha moment.
Coincidentally, I'm also reading Martha Beck's book and this point echos throughout the whole thing. Martha has a "fun" little exercise in her book that I want to share with you to start the week. It's a simple one to get us back on the path of integrity and voice our truth. In my experience, emotions only hold power over us if they're supressed or if we deny them because of ego or shame. Letting them out, even if its just to yourself, is beyond freeing.
Take a moment to say each one of these sentences below out loud to yourself or to journal it. The key is to let it out of your body and see how you feel:
My life isn't perfect.
I don't like the way things are going.
I don't feel good.
I'm scared.
I'm not sure where to go.
I'm not at peace.
I can't find my people.
I don't know what to do.
I need help.
Notice if you feel more relaxed after admitting any of these things. If these don't resonate at all and there's something else you'd like to admit to yourself, try that too. Let it out, let it go. Voicing your truth, being raw and real, is the ultimate emotional detox.
I hope you feel lighter.