Is challenging my negative thoughts and emotions suppressing them?

[matt85]

As a strategy for managing negative emotions and thoughts, I try to ask myself questions to help interject logic and positivity in. For example if I'm angry at someone, I'll ask myself things like does it really matter? what is their side of the situation? what does my ideal self do in this situation? I find these very helpful to lesson the emotional impact and also through repetition lower the emotional impact of similar situations in the future.

As I work through the TMS program, I'm wondering if this is suppressing my emotions? Essentially while this strategy seems helpful am I actually avoiding feeling? Would I be better off mindfully accepting my emotions and thoughts and allowing them to pass on their own? Lastly, if I were to continue with this strategy, should I consciously seek to fully feel my emotion before challenging it? Thanks for your help and advice.

 

[matt85]

Also, what about implementing stoic ideas. Like trying to see everything that happens as preferred or not preferred. Or amor fati (seeking to try to love everything that happens)?

 

[Cactusflower]

This is you dealing with conscious emotions.
Conscious emotions are not suppressed or repressed: they are not the emotions Sarno asks us to work with.
If you know you are angry and choose how to respond - then you are conscious of this anger. You might need to learn skills around expressing it appropriately, or dealing with it personally (lots of us were not taught these skills).
Suppression would perhaps be the subconcious anger towards a parent who never bothered to teach you these skills, which has since led you two lack confidence or perhaps flounder socially etc.

 

[Diana-M]

For example if I'm angry at someone, I'll ask myself things like does it really matter? what is their side of the situation? what does my ideal self do in this situation? I find these very helpful to lesson the emotional impact and also through repetition lower the emotional impact of similar situations in the future.

I relate to this. I used to think of anger as a useless emotion. What good does it do me or anyone else? The problem with that is we do get angry. We are angry, sometimes. And when you’re not allowed to feel your feelings that causes rage in your subconscious. Fill up your rage bucket, and it overflows into physical symptoms.