How Feeling Sad Can Feel Good

“It’s alright cuz there’s beauty in the breakdown”        –Imogen Heap, “Let Go”

The other night I let myself get fully sad. 

I was feeling depressed. It was a lot of little things that, lumped together, felt enormous. Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter why.

I initially tried to fight it. I tried to change my thoughts to more positive, optimistic ones, but it wasn’t working.

So, I just let myself give in to it and get enveloped by the sadness.

First, I fully embraced my feelings with some Kundalini yoga.

Then, I made myself a delicious meal with a glass of wine and watched one of my favorite movies.

All while balling my eyes out 

After that, I took a bath while listening to beautiful, sad music and having the occasional tear roll down my face.

It felt good.

Yes, feeling sad can feel good.

It felt like coming home and being hugged by unconditional love and acceptance.

When we let ourselves be sad, wallow in it, get in the cocoon and turn to goo, it can be incredibly therapeutic. A good cry is incredibly cleansing for the system both physically and emotionally.

We live in a world where “mindset” and “law of attraction” type stuff is super prevalent.

While those concepts can generally be very positive and helpful, if we take them to heart too much, it can be very damaging. After all, we are real people with real feelings and real struggles. Sometimes those struggles make us feel sad, discouraged or rejected.

When we try to gloss over our feelings and put on a façade of positivity, the body and true inner self do not buy it. Those “negative” feelings like sadness need to be acknowledged, felt and released. When we don’t allow them to they fester only to show up later in a breakdown, blow up or physical illness or injury.

So, when I let myself embrace my sadness and feel all of it, it actually felt good. It felt good because I wasn’t lying to myself or denying my feelings. I wasn’t trying to put on a face for others. I was able to hold space for myself and my sadness, and I let my sadness comfort me. Ultimately, I was able to release it.

I woke up the next morning feeling calm, at peace and at ease.

The moral of the story:

-It’s ok to feel sad, discouraged or rejected

-Sometimes letting ourselves feel sad is self-care.

-Sometimes we need to let ourselves turn to liquid while watching Sleepless in Seattle alone on a Friday night.

-Let yourself have a good ugly cry.

-Let your sadness comfort you.

There is so much beauty in the breakdown.