Being with the Transitions

When major changes happen in our lives, the tendency for many of us is to get overwhelmed or emotionally reactive. We might feel like we need to “just get through things” in order to return to a sense of stability or peace.

But we have the choice to recognize transitions as major catalysts for our growth. In fact, big transitions are usually opportunities to release things that are no longer working in our lives — both externally and internally. They are a chance to let go of what needs to be released and to create space for something new.

It’s helpful to remember that when it feels like something is being taken from us, it’s actually leaving behind a vacuum of space that pulls new energy into our lives. We cannot and will not ever be left ‘empty.’ When something leaves our energetic field, the Universe immediately moves to fill it. So what might feel like a loss in the moment is actually an opening for something else, something more in line with the future we really want. 

The purpose of transitions is to bring us closer into alignment with who we really are and what we really want. They happen for a greater reason than we can usually understand at the time. While we may not see the full picture, our most powerful potential in those moments is to truly hold space for our emotions and allow them to work their way through us. To use them as opportunities to nurture ourselves, to deeply be with ourselves, and to shed the parts of ourselves that are no longer working.

One way to do this is to create some intentional quiet time to notice the feelings this transition brings up for you. Is it fear? A feeling of not being good enough? Explore the feelings underneath the surface. What emotions need to be felt? And then sit with them. Allow them in with full acceptance. Give them time to be with you.

We often fear that our feelings will overwhelm us — we avoid them with screens, food, alcohol, or any other distractions we can find. But truly facing our emotions doesn’t harm us; it only frees us from their grip. 

You can feel your emotions as sensations in your body. You can feel safe to let them rise up in all their anger and glory. You can hold space for them to travel through you, to release through you. You can ask them to let go. You can cry them out, you can release them through movement, you can write them down on a piece of paper and burn them. You can do a Yoga Nidra or breathwork or your own ceremony of release. Whatever you do, the key is allowing them to be felt, allowing them to be seen, bringing them into the light of your awareness. This is what transmutes their power over you. 

There is a true lightness and freedom that comes from doing this type of work. You get to slow down and shed some of the weight of your conditioned emotional programming. You get to find space and ease and radical self-love — the kind of self-love that only comes from slowing down and truly being with yourself. 

May you choose to be deeply present in your transitions, and to use these opportunities for your own transformation. If you need some help, you can work with one of our certified life coaches.