The container exercise is essentially putting a pin in negative feelings to come back to them later.
Here’s how to do it.
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To practice it, imagine a closable container into which you put your less-than-ideal feelings.
And for me, its worked wonders.
The window is essentially the sweet spot for stress that allows folks to function as they normally would.
licensed marriage and family therapist
When stress pushes you beyond the window, though, you might betoo overwhelmed to make logical decisions.
The exercise can crucially help you pinpoint a stressor, and then know where youre placing it.
This allows you to come back to it when youre ready to heal or resolve an issue in question.
(After all, its hard to place anything anywhere when you dont know what that thing is.)
you’ve got the option to use the container whenever youre feeling overwhelmed by your emotions.
And while this is an exercise based in imagination, your container doesnthaveto be make believe.
you could also use a physical container (thats what I do!)
and write things down to place inside.
And Firooz is right: The bodydoesremember.
licensed marriage and family therapist
I slept for 17 straight hours.
Thats when I decided to use a physical containeran old eucalyptus candleinstead of an imaginary one.
Id write my feelings on a sticky note and place it into the candle.
And even though I physicalized the exercise, Firooz says the imaginative heart of it remained.
I still had to visualize my feelings going onto this paper and into the container.
It worked better for me this way, and thats whats most important.
Typically, Ill sit down on Fridays, post-work, and dig out the sticky notes from the candle.
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