This document provides guidance on coping with and coexisting with dark emotions. It discusses how those suffering from mental illness are warriors for battling their conditions each day. Week One focuses on bringing awareness to unpleasant feelings and accepting them without resistance. It defines some dark emotions and provides mantras and self-care techniques to help manage these emotions, such as journaling, exercising, and meditating. The homework is to start a journal, write compassionate letters to oneself, and create a self-care list.

1. H O W T O C O P E A N D C O E X I S T W I T H T H E
D A R K E M O T I O N S
A Journey To the Light:

2. Introduction:
This Course is designed to be a helpful guide on the difficult days.
These tools have helped me navigate through my darkness and
allowed me to coexist with my pain.
Week One:
First of all I want to start out Week One by saying those of us who suffer from
depression/anxiety/mental illness are true Warriors. By definition a Warrior
is a brave or experienced soldier or fighter. The fact that on any given day we
end up in the dark trenches of our emotions and can come out again shows we
are stronger than we know. We are fighters against this disease that wants to
take us down and the good news is there are tools to combat the dark times!
The reason I know this is because I have been battling depression for 20 years
and even though there were many times I wanted to wave my white flag and
give up, I used these mantras, tools, meditations and other forms of
spirituality to stay here and fight the fight and now I want to help you in your
battle. I want to show you this road to healing and one day I want you to do
the same for someone else who is a Warrior and is fighting this battle just like
you. We can’t do this alone.

3. Awareness
The definition of awareness: knowledge or perception of a situation or fact
We need to be very aware of the unpleasant and painful feelings when they start to
arise. Once we are aware, we have more power to change our thoughts. You can do
this by actively speaking to them(out loud or to yourself) and acknowledging their
presence. This will take some power away from the feelings.
For Example you can say:
1. “ My feelings are not facts”: just because we think something in our head we
don’t have to believe what we think. When we are in a depressive state our
thoughts are negative and this is a way to remind yourself that your feelings
are not real
2. “I am stronger than these dark/painful feelings”: by saying this you are taking
the power back
3. “This is only temporary and it will pass”: reminding yourself this is only
temporary will give you a sense of peace
4. “I am not feeling Ok but I am safe”: this reminds me that even though I am in
a fearful state, I am safe and nothing bad is going to happen

4. Welcome The Feelings
 ACCEPT what ever feelings are coming up for you. By ACCEPTING the feelings you
are choosing not to resist them. You will need to feel them fully and then release
them. The suffering comes when we resist the dark emotions. The only way through
these times is through. We have to walk through the pain. We have to accept that
our current state is pain or suffering. We don’t have to like it, but we have to
ACCEPT it and know that it will pass.
 Have a deep sense of compassion for yourself. Self-compassion is extending
compassion to one's self in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general
suffering.
 Don’t get upset with how you are feeling or beat yourself up because you are in that
dark place. Stay present in the moment. Welcome the pain. A lot of times when my
mood drops I begin to analyze my life and what’s wrong and that does nothing but
send me on a spiral downward. Don’t analyze your life in this state.
 A Tool To Help You: Sit down in a quiet place or lay in your bed and figure out
where the pain is in your body. Hold that place for 90 seconds while you breathe in
and breathe out fully. This will help you detach from the painful feeling. Continue
longer if you need to.

5. Some Dark Emotions Defined
 Knowing the meaning of these words allows you to fully express yourself and the state you may
currently be in. When any of the below emotions come up for you, be extra gentle on yourself
and remind yourself that you did not CHOOSE these feelings.
 Hopelessness: when a moment or event breaks ones spirit or ones ability to function 2. a
feeling associated with helplessness and/or loss. 3. Sadness in clinical proportions
 Despair: the complete loss or absence of hope
 Emotional Pain: mental or emotional suffering or torment
 Emptiness: he state of containing nothing. the quality of lacking meaning or sincerity;
meaninglessness
 Unworthy: not worthy; lacking worth or excellence
 Suffering: the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship
 Suicidal: deeply unhappy or depressed and likely to commit suicide
 Vulnerable: capable of being physically or emotionally wounded
 Withdrawn not wanting to communicate with other people
 Isolating: to set or place apart; detach or separate so as to be alone
 Numb: may feel cut off from emotional response, even if one is warranted
 Fear (False Evidence Appearing Real): an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that
someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. To be afraid of (someone
or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening

6. Mantras
 The word mantra is said to come from a root meaning “that
which protects the mind.”
 These are things I say to myself repeatedly to give me a sense
of separateness from the depressive feelings:
1. I am not my pain and suffering
2. My depression is not a punishment. I did not choose this
3. My dark feelings are not ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’
4. It’s a bad DAY not a bad LIFE
5. I am not my depression
6. This disease does not define who I am as a person
7. I am a survivor and a warrior
8. I am worthy of happiness and joy

7. Self Care
 Self care means looking after yourself in a healthy way
 Self care is vital because just as you would tend to a cut or a broken bone, emotional pain can
be very excruciating. People think because we can’t ‘see’ the pain on the outside self care is not
needed or essential but that is not true at all. Your heart feels heavy, you are lethargic and
sometimes unable to move.
 Here are some self care tips:
1. Take a nap: I have always felt a lot better after I ‘slept off’ some of my emotional pain. This is
a healthy way to escape
2. Watch a funny YouTube video or a comedy: Take your mind off of your thoughts
3. Write in your journal: This is the time when I have been the most open for learning about
myself and introspection. Journaling is my favorite tool because it allows you to get all the
false thoughts in your head down on paper so you can a. clear your head and b. disassociate
from the feelings now that they are on paper
4. Exercise: Raise those natural endorphins by breaking a sweat and doing something healthy
for your physical body
5. Call or text a friend or family member: Reaching out to someone you love will always make
you remember how loved you are
6. Meditate: This practice allows you to quiet your mind, breathe and be still for as long as you
are able to. You can start out with 5 minutes and build up to 20. Set the timer on your phone
with the ringer off. Just close your eyes and focus on your breath

8. Homework for Week One
1. Go out and purchase a journal or a notebook to write in:
When you are feeling low or down, grab your journal
and write out exactly how and what you are feeling.
Write the negative messages you are telling yourself in
red pen
2. When you are out of the bad space, go back to your
journal and in blue pen, write a compassionate letter to
yourself and remind yourself that what you had written
was not you talking, it was your depression. This will
help you disassociate the two sides and allow you to
hopefully detach when the negative chatter comes up
3. Write a list of things you can do for your personal Self
Care and make sure to do at least two of them a day