I've been working on some strong painful emotions generated by circumstances 2 months ago. There's been an improvement, though every so often I slip back into the pain and rejection and fear of the future etc.
Since two days, though, I've been experiencing a shift. It's as if I've "dropped" the problem and the painful emotions associated with it. I feel like I've delegated the outcome of the situation to a higher power, and I no longer feel inclined to obsess over it. I also feel a sense of respect for myself - interesting because my perceived loss of respect was one of the negative emotions I was dealing with. This new respect feels internal - not a forced affirmation by the mind.
(I was on vacation the last few days and could not practice the meditation, but I kept "processing" it somewhat by re-reading the book and trying to look at it from different angles.)
Today I restarted the guided meditation, and realized that while I could pull up the feeling (rejection, not belonging, feeling like an outcast etc) via images, the images had no sting at all. I couldn't feel the negative emotions like I used to even few days earlier. Instead I felt a steady respect for myself, and an unwillingness to allow any person or situation to rob me of my peace. I felt very protective of myself.
My question is - how do you process a positive emotion like this?
