Emotions or ego? You have to feel it to find out.

Do you know the difference between your narrative and your process?

One keeps us stuck in our thoughts. The other allows space for releasing and healing.

Narratives are the stories we tell ourselves; the thoughts we have when our ego goes into protection mode. It’s when we stay in our head instead of dropping into our body to listen to what is truly going on. It’s sometimes the lies we tell ourselves.

When someone starts to feel emotions coming to the surface and it’s difficult to name or explain, they tend to run to the narrative - to thinking - to get out of that place of discomfort.

They create a story around why they are feeling that way.

Here’s a personal example.

I was working with a client when he was starting to feel frustrated that things weren’t progressing as quickly as he would like. I could feel something coming up but passed it off as being worried about him.

As I was recalling this situation with my supervisor during a supervision session, he saw something different. He asked me to go deeper into the feeling of what was underneath that narrative.

He asked, “What were you feeling inside of you when he said this?”

Instead of feeling worried about my client (my narrative), I was actually feeling a fear of failure. What if I couldn’t help him? What if we weren’t going fast enough? What if he wasn’t happy with my coaching?

It wasn’t until I recognized the true emotion behind the feeling that I could sit with it, release, and come back to my core.

I needed to feel the truth before I could process that emotion.

That’s why I work with a supervisor. Because it is very difficult to recognize the difference between narrative and process on our own.

I have enough experience, practice, and self-awareness to catch myself most of the time, but stories still sneak in hiding the truth.

If something isn’t sitting right with you, if it feels off and not landing clearly, then you may benefit from working with a somatic coach to guide you as you sit with those uncomfortable feelings until you are able to process them and release them.