The Importance of Forgiveness

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Good communication starts by noticing what we're feeling before we speak.

Defensive reactions can hide more vulnerable feelings, such as hurt, loneliness, or fear.

Pausing and sensing into the body can help us speak from our feelings rather than blame.

Listening to how our words land helps build trust, understanding, and connection.

Much has been written about the importance of good communication. But one essential ingredient is often overlooked.

To communicate effectively, we need to know what we’re actually experiencing inside us. Often our first impulse is governed by the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response wired into us to protect us from real or imagined threats to our physical or emotional safety. We don't have to be hijacked by our nervous system’s protective instincts; instead, we can pause long enough to uncover what we’re actually experiencing inside.

Vulnerability can feel threatening to the protective parts of us that are organized around emotional and physical survival. We can tap into another part of ourselves to access the more vulnerable feelings underlying our initial reaction. We can slow down enough to help settle our nervous system and bring gentle, curious attention to what we're........

© Psychology Today