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Do you set aside time to regularly check in on your emotions? 

We all know the importance of taking care of our physical and spiritual health, but oftentimes, our emotional well-being gets overlooked. It’s easy to brush off our feelings, especially when our cultural or familial norms encourage us to suppress them. Instead of honoring the presence of a particular emotion and exploring its origins, many of us tend to hide our true feelings. This behavior is not healthy or sustainable and can take a toll on our mental and physical health.

You might be saying, “Okay, Chrystal, so what do I do? How do I get better at handling my emotions?” Cue Dr. Anita Phillips. Not only is she a sister in Christ and a dear friend, but she’s also a trauma therapist, a life coach, and a minister with a profound understanding of what it takes to be an emotionally whole believer. In her new book, The Garden Within, Dr. Anita contends with the idea that God created us in the pattern of plants and compares the garden of our heart to an actual garden: 

“Seeds, that’s the beliefs that are within us. Soil, our emotional lives. The plant that springs up then becomes our thoughts, and the fruit is what we do.” (Dr. Anita)

As a result, our emotions provide us with valuable insights about the health of our hearts. If our thoughts and actions are unhealthy, we need to check the soil of our emotions. So it’s essential to acknowledge the full spectrum of our emotions. Rather than suppressing the uncomfortable emotions, we should embrace them because they point to areas of our lives that require attention. Dr. Anita gets deep in this one, y’all. As many times as I’ve chatted with Dr. Anita about these concepts, I still learned a lot about science and scripture in this conversation.

So what do we do? Proverbs 4:23 says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” (NASB).  Many people think self-care is all about bubble baths, spa days, and solo dates. These things are all fine, but true self-care involves cultivating the garden of your heart, and that requires tending to the soil of your emotions. And while cultivating the soil of your emotions won’t necessarily be expensive — it will likely require a new level of honesty with yourself and more dependence on your heavenly Father to give you what you truly need.

God cares about your emotions, my friend, and transformation is there for the taking if you are willing to do the work. As you listen to my conversation with Dr. Anita, I hope that you gain a better understanding of your emotional self and that you feel better equipped to navigate your emotions and ultimately, cultivate the garden of your heart.

Remember, you are worth it.

 

Highlights from Today’s Episode

  • Taking time with yourself 
  • Embracing your tears
  • Learning to be still
  • Checking on your body
  • Shifting emotional experiences

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Other Stuff to Check Out

Let’s Talk!

  1. Looking back, what have you been taught about emotions? How has that affected the way you express your emotions?
  2. Do you stifle your tears or do you allow them to fall? When was the last time you ugly cried?
  3. What is one thing you can do this week to improve the condition of the soil of your heart?

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