Repressed emotions are feelings that were pushed down out of awareness and never allowed to run their course. In Dr David Hawkins' teaching they stay stored in the body and the unconscious, and they go on shaping how we think, what we feel and how we react until they are let go.
This post explains how repressed emotions form, how to notice them, and how the letting go technique works with them.
How do repressed emotions form?
Repressed emotions form when a feeling is pushed down instead of being allowed to run its course. In the framework I teach, there are three mechanisms people use to handle any feeling, which are suppression, expression and escape, and repression belongs to the first of them.
Suppression means holding the feeling down, telling yourself you are fine and getting on with the day. When this happens often enough, the feeling drops out of awareness altogether, and that is what most people mean when they say an emotion is repressed.
Expression means venting the feeling or acting it out. It can feel like relief in the moment, yet it feeds the feeling with more thoughts and more story, so the feeling grows stronger and comes back again.
Escape means moving your attention away from the feeling through work, screens, food, alcohol or constant activity. The feeling waits quietly while you are distracted and is still there when the distraction ends.
None of the three mechanisms allows a feeling to run its course, which is why each one leaves the feeling in place. Dr Hawkins describes this in detail in Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, and I walk through how to apply it in Letting Go by David Hawkins: How to Practise It.
How do I know if I have repressed emotions?
The clearest sign of a repressed emotion is a reaction that is bigger than the moment calls for, or a heaviness that has no obvious cause. Because these feelings sit outside awareness, most people first meet them through their effects.
Common examples include a sudden flash of irritation over something small, a tightness that returns in the same situations, a flat mood that arrives without a reason, and a pattern that repeats in your relationships or work however much you resolve to change it.
It helps to know the difference between a feeling as a label and a feeling as a sensation. The words anger, grief and fear are labels that the mind attaches to an experience, while the experience itself is a set of sensations in the body, such as heat in the stomach, pressure in the chest or a catch in the throat. When you notice the sensations underneath the label, you are in contact with the feeling as it actually is, and that contact is where letting go begins.
If you recognise yourself in these examples, How to Stop Being Controlled by Emotions looks at what it means to live from them and how that changes.
What happens to repressed emotions?
According to Dr Hawkins, repressed emotions do not disappear. They stay stored and keep generating thoughts, moods and reactions in the background, which means the feeling comes first and the thoughts follow from it.
This is why working on the thoughts alone often leaves the same emotional pattern in place. The thoughts change and the feeling keeps producing new ones, so the old pattern returns in a new form.
Dr Hawkins also mapped feelings by level, from shame, guilt and fear through to courage and acceptance, and I explain how the levels fit together in Dr Hawkins' Map of Consciousness Explained.
How does letting go work with repressed emotions?
Letting go works with repressed emotions by allowing the feeling to be fully present until it has run its course. You notice the sensations of the feeling in your body, allow them to be there without suppressing, expressing or escaping, and let them run their course.
Because a repressed feeling sits outside awareness, it often comes into view as you practise, which means the technique meets whatever is present in the moment, one feeling at a time. Each time a feeling runs its course, there is less of it left to shape your thoughts and reactions.
This is a skill that you can learn and then practise on your own, in the moment, as life happens. The full step-by-step explanation is in How to Let Go: Dr Hawkins' Technique Explained, and in 1:1 coaching I teach it directly from Dr Hawkins' book so that you can use it independently.
Frequently asked questions
Are repressed emotions real?
The idea that feelings can be held out of awareness is a long-standing one in psychology, and it sits at the centre of Dr Hawkins' teaching. If you have physical symptoms that worry you, your doctor is the right person to speak to.
What is the difference between suppressed and repressed emotions?
In the framework I teach, suppression and repression belong to the same mechanism, which is pushing a feeling down. Suppression usually describes pushing it down knowingly, and repression describes the point where it has dropped out of awareness altogether.
Does letting go work on repressed emotions?
Letting go works with any feeling you can notice as a sensation in the body, including feelings that have been held for years. Results differ from person to person, and the practice grows stronger the more you use it.
Can I learn this without therapy?
Letting go is a teachable skill, and letting go coaching is a separate service that does not replace therapy. If you have a diagnosed condition or you are in distress, a doctor or a qualified therapist is the right first contact, and When Therapy Hasn't Helped: Try Letting Go explains where letting go fits for people who have already tried it.
Ready to learn how?
If you recognise repressed emotions in your own life and want to learn how to let them go, then you're ready for OUTSIDE help. I teach you how to let go in the moment, as life happens. Read my answers to the most frequently asked questions.
If you're interested in working with me, check out my letting go coaching services.
If you're ready to talk about how letting go can benefit your life and explore working with me, book a discovery call today to begin the journey towards freedom.
