BE THE WITNESS

Most of the time, it’s not a big tragedy that breaks us.
It’s the small emotions we keep swallowing every day.

A comment that hurt but we ignored.
Anger we pushed down because it felt unsafe.
Grief we never cried because life had to go on.

Over time, these emotions don’t disappear. They collect in the body.

Before tears come, the body reacts first. The throat tightens, like something is stuck there. The chest feels heavy and tight. The shoulders rise and stay tense without us noticing. The stomach churns or gurgles, uneasy and restless. Sometimes the body freezes completely. You know you are safe, but your body doesn’t. This is emotion with nowhere to go.

There is nothing wrong with you when this happens. Your body is not failing. It is protecting you in the only way it knows. The problem starts when the mind panics. It wants the feeling gone immediately. It pushes you to cry harder, distract yourself, shut down, complain, blame, or turn the pain inward. But reacting like this keeps the emotion stuck. It teaches the body that feeling is dangerous.

What actually helps is Witnessing.

Witnessing means staying with the feeling without running from it and without feeding it. When the lump rises in your throat, don’t force tears and don’t push it down. Just notice the tightness. When your chest feels heavy, stay with the heaviness. Let your shoulders drop a little. When your stomach churns, feel it. When your body freezes, don’t fight it. Freezing is not weakness. It is survival.

The moment you stop reacting, the body receives a small message: I am safe right now. The tightness softens. The breath changes. Sometimes tears come. Sometimes they don’t. Both are okay. Healing is not always release. Often, it is simply learning to stay present without fear.

We suffer not because emotions arise, but because we panic when they do. We try to get rid of them too quickly. But emotions pass when they are allowed to exist.

Nothing stays forever.
Not anxiety.
Not grief.
Not this heaviness.

And when even witnessing feels too hard, when the body is tired and the mind has no strength left there is one final step.

Stop trying.
Stop holding.
Stop controlling.

Surrender it all to Maa Kali.

Let her carry what you cannot.

JAI MAA!