In fitness, there's something called DOMS, which stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It basically means you're sore a couple of days after your workout even if you didn't feel it right after you did it. It means you challenged your body in a different way, whether in a different movement or with more weight. It may also mean you're getting stronger.
Lately, however I've noticed, that with emotions, for some of us, we have a delayed reaction to certain events or words, images, etc that come into our lives. Sometimes we don't know exactly how we feel about something until a few days have passed or maybe longer. I imagine this to be a coping mechanism that allows us to deal with things at the time, and then as things settle in we have a better idea of how we really feel.
Great! So that means we may experience emotional soreness as well? :P Well, the good part is that you may have been challenged in a different way, either because you took a risk or life threw you a curve ball, so you're growing in this aspect as well. The importance of the comparison is that just as your physical body may need a little more attention when it's sore, then so does your emotional body. With your physical body you can choose a few ways to reduce the discomfort such as moving (yes, moving more may help ;)), hydrating more, or soaking in an Epsom salts bath, etc. It means that your awareness of this is a great step to improving your self care. It means that during those times when you're surprised that you feel differently or more than your initial reaction to a challenge, say when you said yes instead of no, or vice versa, etc. that you can be more patient with yourself, to next time give yourself more time before making decisions until you are clearer about how you feel, to take a bath, to drink more water, to journal, etc.
On this topic, I'll be writing more about a Self Care toolbox on my next post.
Lately, however I've noticed, that with emotions, for some of us, we have a delayed reaction to certain events or words, images, etc that come into our lives. Sometimes we don't know exactly how we feel about something until a few days have passed or maybe longer. I imagine this to be a coping mechanism that allows us to deal with things at the time, and then as things settle in we have a better idea of how we really feel.
Great! So that means we may experience emotional soreness as well? :P Well, the good part is that you may have been challenged in a different way, either because you took a risk or life threw you a curve ball, so you're growing in this aspect as well. The importance of the comparison is that just as your physical body may need a little more attention when it's sore, then so does your emotional body. With your physical body you can choose a few ways to reduce the discomfort such as moving (yes, moving more may help ;)), hydrating more, or soaking in an Epsom salts bath, etc. It means that your awareness of this is a great step to improving your self care. It means that during those times when you're surprised that you feel differently or more than your initial reaction to a challenge, say when you said yes instead of no, or vice versa, etc. that you can be more patient with yourself, to next time give yourself more time before making decisions until you are clearer about how you feel, to take a bath, to drink more water, to journal, etc.
On this topic, I'll be writing more about a Self Care toolbox on my next post.
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