The Importance of Authentic Self-Expression

Someone might make an uncomfortable comment. Someone else might over step our boundaries. Someone says or does something that we don’t like- Or maybe we are hold a different perspective from someone but don’t express our thoughts for fear of being ridiculed or rejected. We stay quiet. We don’t saying anything.

What happens in these circumstances when we don’t express our thoughts and emotions with integrity?

Essentially, when we don’t speak our truth in the moment we end up disowning ourselves. That is why it feels so painful. We might replay these experiences in our head for weeks. We loop it over and over thinking of what we should have said. We start to become resentful of these people that over stepped our boundaries. We project our resentment towards these people but deep down the resentment it towards ourselves. When we reject ourselves to avoid conflict, it starts more conflict within ourselves.

When our body is telling us one thing–through our thoughts and emotions– and we express something different or don’t express anything at all– it creates more disconnection to our bodies. This creates mental and physical illness. We start to distrust what we are feeling. We begin to distrust the signals coming from our body such, “Hey I don’t like the way that felt”, “What he said didn’t feel good”, ” I really want to express myself right now.”

When we are able to speak out truth in a calm and non abrasive way, we are able to be true to ourselves. We stay in alignment with ourselves which strengthens the mind/body/soul connection. It’s also an essential part of having self love. We can articulate our thoughts in a way that lets the person know where our boundaries are or what our personal truth is even if its something simple like expressing our opinion with some friendly back and forth conversations.

Practice expressing your thoughts and feelings. If it is difficult for you start writing them in a journal. As you get practice it will be easier for you to be in touch with your emotions and express them in an effective way. Stay true to yourself.