Sitting with Uncomfortable Feelings: A Sacred Return to Self

There are moments in life when something stirs within — something raw, unfiltered, deeply human. A tightening in the chest, a lump in the throat, a quiet heaviness that words can't quite capture.

It’s uncomfortable. And so often, our instinct is to turn away. To distract ourselves. To keep busy. To numb.

But these moments… they’re not here to harm us.
They’re gentle invitations.
Whispers from the soul, calling us home.

Discomfort, in all its forms, isn’t a sign that something’s wrong with you. It’s a sign that something within is asking to be seen. To be felt. To be honoured.

We live in a world that teaches us to keep moving — to look for quick fixes, to avoid what’s hard. But your feelings aren’t here to be pushed away. They are sacred signals. And when we learn to sit with them — truly sit — we begin a deeper kind of healing.

So how do we do that?
How do we sit with the feelings we’ve spent a lifetime avoiding?

We begin gently. Always gently.

The next time you feel something rising — perhaps anxiety, or sadness, or anger that seems to come from nowhere — pause.
Close your eyes.
Place your hand on your heart, or rest it softly on your belly.
And breathe.

Be there with yourself, just as you are. With your breath. With your feeling.
Not to fix it. Not to judge it.
But to say, lovingly, “I’m here with you.”

Your presence, just as it is, is healing.

The feeling might not shift straight away. That’s okay. You are learning how to stay. To feel. To offer yourself the care and kindness you’ve needed all along.

I often say: emotions are like waves. They rise, they peak, they pass. But they pass more freely when we allow them to move through us. When we resist, they hold on. When we soften, they move.

And in that movement, we uncover truths we’ve been holding deep.
Anger might show us a boundary we’ve ignored.
Grief may remind us of how deeply we loved.
Fear could be asking for a sense of safety and grounding.

Every emotion carries its own kind of wisdom.
Every moment of discomfort is a doorway.

So as you move through your day — or a tough season — I invite you to practise staying. Just a little longer. Just a little softer.
Breathe into the feeling. Honour it. And remind yourself:

“This is part of my healing.”

You are not broken.
You are not too much.
And you are most definitely not alone.

You are human,
And everything you feel is welcome, for if you allow it, it will pass and you will let it go.

In the stillness, in the struggle, in the softness — may you return to yourself, again and again.

With gentleness and grace

Nicola