Black Mascara Tears

“By loving your sadness, you’re respecting your truth.” – Danielle Laporte

Big girls do cry. 

Crying is a tool we can use to release feelings that are stored deep inside our hearts. By feeling our sadness, and creating space for it, we can open the channels that prevent love and happiness from flowing into our lives.

When this practice was recommended to me after my mom died I was terrified to try it. I thought that if I let go and allowed space to feel my sadness that the tears wouldn’t stop and I would be taken away in a straight jacket! But that wasn’t what happened. After a few sessions of consciously crying I felt lighter, happier and more free than I had in years.

Creating space on a regular basis for tears is truly the most liberating and courageous practices you will adopt.  We have received messages from early in our development that big girls don’t cry. Yet crying is one of the most powerful forms of healing. Typically when we feel sadness we want to run from it. Not embrace it.

Want to give it a try?

Find a time when you have nowhere else to be and are alone. Light a candle and set a timer for 20 minutes. (I found the timer helpful as a reminder to bring me back from the abyss, should I end up there.) I like to lie down but you can also just sit on the floor, put your hands over your heart and BREATHE. Breathe deep and exhale a few times. Allow yourself to feel all the sadness when it bubbles up and let the tears flow out. Don’t hold back. Sink into all the emotion. Only when you feel it can it pass through you.

You may not look pretty with big black mascara tears and a snotty nose, but hell your heart will be lighter, more open, and you will find your bliss.

 With light + love,