WEEKLY MEDITATION
Unexpressed emotion is stored as tension in the muscles of the body.
-Wilhelm Reich
Successful recovery from addiction means developing an awareness of one’s emotional state and learning to appropriately express negative (and positive) emotion when necessary. Today’s quote reminds us of two important points related to this concept. First is that it is very important that we learn to appropriately express emotions as we feel them. It is very destructive to let negative or painful feelings fester inside of us without directly dealing with them in a healthy way. The second point is that not dealing with our emotions is detrimental not only to our emotional state but can also wreak havoc on our physical bodies. For this reason it is a good idea not only to stay on top of the process of self-awareness and emotional housecleaning, but also to incorporate a regular physical practice that can help us release tension at a physical level. We are, after all, physical as well as emotional beings, and it is important to honor this fact by taking care of our physical bodies as well as our emotional states.
