A
good cry
Sadness and grieving for what we have lost through illness is a
necessary part of learning to live with any disease. Crying alone,
though, is neither cathartic or healing. We need to find someone
who can be an anchor for us while we descend into our grief, knowing
they will support and encourage us to release this pent-up emotion
from our hearts. We may feel temporarily quite exhausted after a
good cry but will feel much calmer, happier and more energised the
following day.
Feeling ‘de-pressed’
When we are feeling numb, tired, and ‘de-pressed’ we
are literally doing just that - pushing back down stronger emotions
such as anger, frustration, grief and rage. Sitting on such powerful
emotions is exhausting and drains us of energy. Also it is impossible
to single out one emotion to suppress; so when we sit on any emotion
we tend to ‘numb out’ and feel no emotion.
Our passion is where our energy comes from, so sitting on our feelings
depletes our energy, and the lower our energy the more numb and
de pressed we feel. So crying, screaming, or raging gives us energy
and raises our spirits again.
Fighting back
Rage and anger are normal healthy responses to any disease that
threatens and controls our lives.
They are incredibly energising and a wonderful antidote if we are
feeling frozen with fear, numb with grief, or exhausted and de pressed.
We can safely connect to these when swimming, kick-boxing, weight
training, and punching pillows at home; helping us in fighting back
- against HIV.
Getting it off our chest
Many of our feelings get stored in our lungs waiting for us to express
them, whether through talking, shouting, crying and so on. If we
don’t release them from here, they gradually accumulate leaving
us short of breath, with a tightness in our chest. Cigarettes enhance
this tightness enabling us to hold |
