Ep #14: Buffering
Society teaches us that there’s no need to deal with any of our painful feelings. We can pop a pill, or go out drinking, or binge-watch Netflix if we’re feeling crappy. Rather than sitting with and sorting through difficult emotions, we can numb them constantly and pretend that they’re not there.
Unsurprisingly, this isn’t an effective tactic for tending to your holistic well-being. When we numb these feelings — or build up a buffer against them — these feelings don’t go away. They take root and, over time, can become even more troublesome because we never bring them into the light to be examined with curiosity and compassion.
Buffering is an incredibly common habit, so I wanted to take this episode to walk you through what buffering is, how to identify it, and how to gently shift away from this behavior. I share some familiar buffering mechanisms, talk about how our culture reinforces our desire to buffer, and why buffering has such a negative impact on your ability to fully experience life. And of course, I’ll give you some pointers for processing your feelings in a way that will open you up to the fullness of all life has to offer — the highs and the lows alike.
What You’ll Learn:
- How society and consumerism encourage us to buffer against our real feelings.
- The effect of social connection on our ability to handle stressful events and emotions.
- Why our brain thinks difficult emotions are dangerous and tries to block them out.
- Problems that can emerge when you’re buffering and keeping life at arm’s length.
- How to recognize when you’re buffering and slowly start to shift this behavior.
- Why you may crave your former buffer as you start to develop new coping mechanisms.
Listen to the full episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-14-buffering/id1454980022?i=1000439122739
You can find her online at: VictoriaAlbina.com, http://instagram.com/victoriaalbinawellness, http://facebook.com/victoriaalbinawellness