Things we do not name cease to exist

Naming your emotions is the first step to letting go of the pain they can cause. If you don't name them, they can hurt you.

Where do the unnamed fears go? Where does your mind store the emotions you let go? How do you deal with things that cause you pain if you avoid them? Where is the resting place from those dreams that never came true? All those things which you do not name cease to exist.

But just because they cease to exist doesn't mean they lose their potential to harm you. They continue to hurt just as much as when you don't talk about them. Even when you don't talk about what bothers you about someone or what makes you angry, it still stings. You still feel pain when others attack your self-esteem and belittle you. But if you don't talk about these things, they effectively cease to exist.

How can you define your fears if you don't give them a name?

When you name them, you give them form. This gives you the opportunity to face them and overcome them. If you don't do this, they will continue to exist. Many thoughts can have a great influence over you, but if you don't name them, you will never face them. Thoughts remain strong, but exist only in your own mind.

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.” — Mahatma Gandhi

How do the things you didn't name affect you?

Did you know that one-third of people who go to the doctor have symptoms that have no medical explanation?

The pain is not physical, but psychological. This means that psychological pain hurts as much as physical pain. It stays inside you without being able to come out and harms your body. All those things that you do not name and release cease to exist for others.

The more time you spend alone with your own pain, the more it grows within you. When you don't let it out, you increase your chances of getting sick. This is when you see but do not speak, when you hear but do not help, or when you are in pain but do not try to heal. These are ways to make your body and soul sick.

Suffering itself tears people apart from the inside. That's why there's no better cure than naming those things that are killing you inside. Name your fears, your dreams, and the injustices of the world. When you do, you have the power to do something about it. You can work on them and face them. You can own them.

Why is it bad to suppress your emotions?

It's not possible for others to understand what you're not talking about. People cannot see your burden that you have not put into words. Because of this, you cannot share its burden with anyone. Thus it torments and persecutes you.

Emotions are very important. That's why you need to learn how to regulate them for the sake of your mental and physical health.

According to an article written by scientists Philip Goldin and James Gross, which was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, emotions are linked to the pattern of your brain activity, whether you express them or not. On the other hand, they also found that emotional repression activated the insula and the amygdala.

Expressing your emotions eases the pain and damage they cause. When you identify the emotions that certain situations evoke in you (such as fear, joy, anger, etc.), you will be able to approach those situations intelligently.

When you pour it all out, you heal yourself. When you bring out what you keep, you make the problem smaller because you can share it. When you name something, you give it a physical form that you then have no choice but to face.

See how to deal with repressed emotions in Milena Goleva's video

Read more:26 Japanese wisdoms that will banish unhappiness from your life

Source: exploringyourmind.com/psychology.framar.bg

See also: Meditation - the best way to a happy life and to know yourself