36 Comments

Lovely gems again. Thank you Emily! It’s always a lovely way to start my week. 😊

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Thank you Mika 😊 I really appreciate it and so glad to be a part of your routine/week in even a small way !

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oy, takes Sadness’ hand and reassures her, ‘Remember Sadness, wherever I go, you go too’. That's lovely. I'm going to see this movie with my niece tomorrow. Thank you for sharing Emily!

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Thank you Lisa. I really hope you enjoy it, it is such a deep movie but also loads of fun !!!! What a lovely Auntie/Niece trip! Let us know your thoughts!

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I loved it Emily. It reminded me how tough it is being a teen. The biggest takeaway is that I’m a good person and I don’t have to keep trying harder. Just let go …🎈I cried all the way home. I think it was validating and healing. May have to write a post when I’ve collected my thoughts. 😍

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Lisa, it makes me feel so happy that you enjoyed it as much as I did. I actually went to see it twice, and loved it all the more the second time round. It is written so incredibly well. I can’t help but think how helpful I would have found a movie like this when I was younger, and having so many anxious thoughts. Though it makes me feel happy that young ones today will get to know they are completely normal and not alone. Thank you for letting me know! Genuinely so pleased you enjoyed it.

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I said to my sister when we were leaving ‘I want to watch it again, I feel like there is more for me to learn!’ 🤪 I wanted to enjoy the story and the characters this time around. It’s so clever. Like the part where Joy suggested they surfed on all the ‘bad’ memories to get back to the console. I would have loved this too when I was younger. In my work, my intention is to be the person I needed growing up. I created a podcast for 7~11year olds with one hundred episodes centred around emotional and social learning. When you grow up thinking it’s just you, it creates beliefs that you’re weird or there is something wrong with you which is NOT true at all. That’s such a lonely space to be. Lovely to chat with you on here 😍✨

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I know exactly what you mean, and even after the second time I have been itching to watch it again (and have not ruled it out 😂) ... I think it's such a clever film, with so much to learn. The panic attack scene stand out for me, so powerful.

Your work sounds amazing, such important work, and I'm so pleased this world is starting to open up ideas, experiences and points of views with kindness and understanding like this for young people (and us adults too!) ... What a special film to have watched with your family.

I'm so pleased to have connected with you ... Just subscribed to your Substack... Looks right up my street 🙏✨

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Wonderful. So glad to have you here Emily. Oh yes panic attacks - with all those bottled up emotions. Such powerful visuals and horribly uncomfortable feelings. Thank you for taking an interest in my work and for subscribing. xx

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Another beautiful letter Emily 😊 and so lovely to hear how you turned your difficult day around. Such wonderful tips and ideas as always.. thank you for all that you so generously offer 💖

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Thank you so much Eva 🙏 I hope so ! It's not always easy but it's so good to step back and try and reassess when you can. 💕

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Loved reading this Emily, am only a few weeks into to the Substack platform, and took the plunge tonight to comment. I am finding so finding many kindred spirits here. In my 30's I battled some anxiety issues, so can appreciate some of your experiences. Writing and Journalling is a fabulous tool to assist wellbeing.

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Thank you and welcome Tracey! I am so happy you have found yourself here on Substack - it is an AMAZING space and you'll find it both friendly and inspiring, in equal measure! I am also happy you found your way over to me! Do have a look around, and if you need anything just ask!

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Always good to hear how others turn a bad day around. I had a bad day yesterday. My self soothing list isn't too dissimilar I practice EFT ( emotional freedom technique) via YouTube, give myself Reiki, get in my studio and paint whilst listening to music, call a friend, go for a walk with my camera, write in my gratitude journal , have a nap or bath, do an oracle reading or meditation with a crystal. Thank you for giving of yourself x

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Hello Cath, Thank you so much for your sharing your list. You have definitely peaked my interest in EFT - I will certainly look that up. I also really love painting while listening to music, I tend to go with some nice gentle jazz - what do you listen to?

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Where do you live Emily ? I can recommend some people in the Lake District to work with doing EFT , art therapy, sound healing, breathwork etc I was listening to Jordan Rakei over the weekend but Alice Faye ( featured on the Piano) has a wonderfully unique voice and I have discovered CMAT recently.

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I live in Norwich... Little far from the Lake District but I will look EFT up 💕 CMAT came to Norwich to do a gig at the Arts Centre, I had tickets but missed it ... Been gutted ever since !!!!!

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Agreed Norwich is quite a distance, you could try tapping with Brad Yates via YouTube

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I will, thank you

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This was gorgeous. Haven't seen the movie yet, but look forward to revisiting this piece again when I do.

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Thank you! And do let me know what you think!

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Turns out my as yet unwritten 'self-soothing' list would likely be incredibly similar to yours. 😆

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Yay! I hope it serves you as well as it serves me! It's ever changing and growing too. 🙏

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This reminds me of the poem the guesthouse by Rumi

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Stay generous ❤️ spirit gives and gives

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Always 🙏

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I can relate to all of this :)

The other day I read a Reddit thread mentioning the term called the "foreboding joy" by an author (I forgot the name, sorry). It describes this phenomenon. I personally call this my "shoedropper" thoughts, from "waiting for the other shoe to drop". Although it's unhealthy to keep having these thoughts, battling them requires another level of mental energy. So, yeah, I completely understand and feel your uphill battle.

You mentioned different activities, and I can vouch for them. It doesn't always have to be 1 moment or 1 activity that will switch on our bubbly joy mood (my mistake that I relied on external things too much). It could be that we spend almost a whole week in the rumination grip, but with daily progress that seems so little to be noticeable. We only know that after a few more days we feel better and this baffles us. But it could be caused by our consistent efforts to make time for journalling, daily walk, etc on our bad days.

Point is, let's keep doing these simple habits because they're helpful. All emotions are our friends :)

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Thank you so much Sekar 🙏 and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I really appreciate the thought, and couldn't agree more. It's such a learning curve but absolutely worth taking the time to really get to know yourself and at what times you need to lean into self soothing more. I think the biggest epiphany for me, was trying to accept and not dismiss or squash more challenging emotions. They all play a part, and are all part of who you are ✨

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For me, nothing like exercise helps me calm my nerves. A good session of pilates, yoga or a run or swim. I follow this with a zen activity like cooking, cleaning house or playing a board game …. or a sport like even golf. Thank you Emale, you help your reader understand and wade through emotions.

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Thank you so much 😊 that means so much to me

🙏💕

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Anxiety can really be difficult, can’t it? Sending love 💗 🤗💫

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Thank you Mackenzie , it certainly has it's challenges 🙏

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As a Mindset Coach, I often talku about all emotions being okay. Thank you for sharing the prompts. I agree that this is a great way to shift your focus.

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Thank you so much 😊 it has certainly helped me process my emotions better, and accept myself more. It's all a work in progress.

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