by Delta Hunter
Ocean waves make great metaphors for our emotional reactions to things that happen in life. They both follow a pattern and have similar risks. Both an ocean wave and a strong emotion can tower over and threaten to topple us with their powerful energy, before crashing down and throwing us askew. Afterward, they release us to some sort of calm; a beginning place to restore… Until, of course, the next big wave or emotion arrives and we are swept up again.
If you are in the ocean and close to shore, you can decide when you’ve had enough, and get out of the water. But if you get distracted, or become careless, the ocean could pull you farther out, until suddenly you realize you can’t touch bottom and are in over your head. If we are listening to ourselves and can learn to notice when we are becoming anxious or upset, we can manage that wave of emotion before we are toppled by it.
Sometimes we can be standing close to shore and a wave comes along that is much larger and more powerful than us and threatens to drag us under and out to sea. If this happens, the worst thing to do is to panic because that will constrict your airways, and drown your smart thinking. The best thing to do when confronted with a threatening wave is to dive right into the middle of it. That may sound wrong, as you are imagining the best thing would be to run but trying to outrun a wave turns out to be the worst thing to do. Envision yourself turning your back to the wave as you frantically run for safety towards the shore. Your pace is slowed down to an animated crawl by the weight and pull of the swell. Panicking you look back to see how far you’ve gotten only to be slammed on the head by the most forceful part of the wave. Who knows how long you will be down!
Dive into the middle of a wave, where there is little resistance or force, and you will come out the other side barking like a happy seal. Can we dive into the middle of our panic or overwhelming distress or sadness when everything inside us is screaming, run away?
We can’t run away from anxiety or depression any more than we can run from a wave. But we can try to be still and let the feeling in by letting it sink into our body. We can do this because we know it will pass. Emotions are energy in motion. They are waves that begin in our minds and build energy in our bodies, and if we let them, they will flow through and out of us.
So the answer is yes, we can dive into the middle of panic and distress. We can find a place to be alone and to cry our eyes out. We can let anxiety and panic course through us because we know it will pass. We can let loneliness settle in for a day or two because we know that it is a passing feeling and that the core of ourselves is actually always connected to others. We begin to see that these painful states are constantly moving and that they won’t destroy us if we don’t try to resist them. The more we can observe them as they move through us, the less powerful and monstrous they seem, until eventually, we simply take note of their presence and stay the course.
The earth is 71% water. Our bodies are 60% water; always moving and transporting energy.
Posted by Delta Hunter
Licensed Psychotherapist, martial arts, and meditation instructor.