“Maybe you’re not too sensitive. Maybe you’ve just been carrying sh*t that was never meant to be carried forever.”
Andrea Knapp

Have you ever had something completely stupid make you cry and immediately thought, what the hell is wrong with me?

Maybe someone made one little comment and it hit WAY harder than it should have. Maybe your husband asked an innocent question and suddenly you're annoyed at the way he's breathing, or maybe you dropped something on the kitchen floor and apparently THAT was the final straw because now you're standing there ready to lose your shit over a spoon!

Logically, you know it's not about the spoon, but that doesn't stop you from wondering why you're suddenly so damn sensitive.

I think a lot of women have gotten really good at judging themselves for this.

We tell ourselves we're overreacting, being dramatic, too emotional or that we just need to get it together.

Meanwhile, we've been holding everything together for everyone else for YEARS.

There's usually more in the bucket than the thing that finally tips it over

Think about everything your body and mind deal with on any random Tuesday.

You're thinking about work, the kids, appointments, dinner, money, your marriage, the text you forgot to answer, the thing you need from the grocery store, whether everyone else is okay and approximately 900 other things running quietly in the background.

Then add the bigger stuff.

Loss.

Disappointment.

Fear.

Relationships that hurt you.

Things you never said.

Things someone said to you that you wish you could forget.

Times you had to keep going because there wasn't really another option.

We are REALLY good at saying, "I'm fine. It's fine. Moving on."

Except sometimes I wonder if our bodies are like, "Ummm... are we though?"

This is where my perspective on emotions started changing

The deeper I've gotten into Emotional Body Coding, the more interested I've become in what we carry without even realizing we're carrying it.

The idea behind this work is that emotions and experiences that haven't been fully processed can remain connected to patterns within the body.

That doesn't mean every bad mood is a trapped emotion.

It doesn't mean crying over something small means there's some giant hidden trauma we need to uncover, and it definitely doesn't mean we need to blame everything happening in our lives on our emotions.

Sometimes you're pissed because you're pissed.

Sometimes you're exhausted because you need sleep.

Sometimes hormones are hormoning. 😂

But I also don't think we should ignore the emotional piece simply because we can't see it.

We expect ourselves to just "get over" a LOT

This is one of the things that gets me.

Something hard happens and eventually life keeps moving, so we assume we should too.

We go back to work, make dinner, take care of the kids, answer texts, show up to things, laugh, and function.

From the outside, everything looks normal again.

That doesn't necessarily mean we've processed what happened.

Sometimes we survived it because that was what we needed to do at the time, and surviving something is very different from actually having the space to process it.

That realization has given me a lot more compassion for myself.

Every emotional reaction doesn't need to become another reason to criticize ourselves.

Sometimes it's just information.

What if instead of judging the reaction, you got curious about it?

This has become one of my favorite shifts.

Instead of immediately going to:

Why am I like this?

Try:

Why might this be hitting me so hard right now?

That's a VERY different conversation.

Maybe you're overwhelmed.

Maybe you haven't had ten minutes to yourself in three weeks.

Maybe something happening today feels a whole lot like something you've experienced before.

Maybe you're carrying grief, anger, resentment or disappointment that hasn't had anywhere to go.

Or maybe you just need to eat lunch. 😂

You don't have to turn every feeling into a giant healing project, but you also don't have to shame yourself for having the feeling in the first place.

You're allowed to pay attention to yourself too!

So many women I talk to are incredible at noticing what everyone else needs.

We can tell when our kids are off before they even say anything. We know when our husband is stressed. We notice when a friend doesn't sound like herself.

BUT when our OWN body starts waving a giant freaking flag?

We tell it to knock it off because we have things to do.

Maybe we can stop doing that quite so much.

Maybe instead of immediately labeling yourself too sensitive, dramatic, difficult or emotional, you can give yourself a second and ask what might actually be going on underneath it.

Not because every emotion needs to be fixed.

But because you deserve the same curiosity and care you've been giving everybody else.

And if you've been carrying a lot for a really long time, maybe your body isn't being dramatic at all.

Maybe it's just tired of pretending none of it was heavy. 💚

The information shared on Unscripted You™ is for informational and inspirational purposes only. Emotional Body Coding is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a qualified provider for personalized support. Healing is not one-size-fits-all. Take what resonates and honor your unique journey.