November is a time of release: for processing, integrating and releasing. It’s a time of squeezing the lessons and learnings from life, no matter how painful.
In November, we welcome in the darkness as we transition into a time with less light and less fire. Just as the trees shed their leaves, we too can shed what is no longer resonating in our lives.
This can be painful, but pain is not inherently bad. Pain can be useful. It guides us from a place of embodied humanity and humility. Pain often unfolds into heightened compassion, empathy and understanding.
Whatever pain you are experiencing right now, you are meant to feel it. You need to feel it.
Your feelings serve to bring you into the present moment; they are one of your greatest teachers. This month, allow yourself to feel whatever is coming up for you, but don’t shy away.
Lean into the discomfort and stay there a while.
You may feel anxious. You may feel out of control, like a spinning top, so you keep yourself busy, distracting yourself from states of being that you don’t perceive to be enjoyable. Your anxiety will not go away on its own. It will come knock, knock, knocking when you least expect it; when you’ve slowed down just enough to give it space to resurface.
This is what happens when we push down, or push away our feelings. They simply re-emerge until we deal with them, until we actually allow ourselves to feel them. We need to stop numbing ourselves with external stimuli: Netflix, food, alcohol, drugs, sex. These are band-aid remedies. You will eventually be confronted with whatever you are avoiding, so you might as well allow yourself to feel it.
When you feel anxious, fearful or sad, let it wash over you like rain. Sit with your feelings, no matter how uncomfortable. Breathe them in and breathe them out. This is not an easy process, especially if you’ve been burying your emotions for a long time, perhaps years. We are often not taught how to process anger and sadness in healthy and authentic ways because our society deems them as ‘negative’ emotions, but they are part of the spectrum of our humanity. They make us human.
We need compassion in the world right now and you are being called to bring more of it into your life. It starts with you. You can’t radiate love selflessly and unconditionally, until you do so for yourself. This starts by releasing the conditions you have set upon yourself; shedding the ways you are unconsciously blocking your blessings.
You might release bit by bit, like wringing a sponge of its last drops of water; or emotions might pass through you like a waterfall. Whatever the case, be patient with yourself; be kind to yourself; talk gently to yourself; cradle yourself; forgive yourself; accept yourself for wherever you’re at. If you can’t enact these acts of compassion for yourself, when you need them the most, then who will? It starts with you.
You may feel like you are in the darkness, bumping around into things, unable to see what’s ahead. Feel your way through the dark. There is light to be found this November and within your darkest days my sweet friend.
November Journaling Prompts:
1) What do you need to allow yourself to feel this month? Is there anything you have been avoiding?
2) What can you release or shed this month? What lessons can you take from this experience?
3) What is one small act of kindness you can do for yourself this month? How can you show yourself compassion?