As most of you know I just recently got hitched…and while my wedding day was totally awesome and was literally a dream come true, this uber important time brought up some BIG TIME emotions for me.

Weddings—or any life-changing event for that matter—are a right of passage…and any good right of passage can seriously STIR SOME THANGS UP!

I knew the wedding and the months leading up to it were potentially going to be emotional for me for a number of reasons, and I could react one of two ways…

I could either stuff my feelings of transition somewhere deep inside of myself, and not feel them—and GOD knows how I would have acted and felt on the big day… OR I could open up to letting the tears and happy feelings flow throughout the process. So with the help of the awesome book A Conscious Bride—a must read for any bride to be, I decided to let myself FEEL.

Allowing ourselves to feel emotions—both happy and sad—is a DEEPLY FEMININE act, which so many of us badass masculine energy driven women tend to dismiss. It’s like we’ve got to prove it to ourselves that we MUST “have it together” at all times and be the perfect modern working woman. We also tend to think that we don’t deserve our feelings of happiness and bliss, so we dismiss them and let the beautiful moments pass us by…

But when we can let go of the reigns for a moment, slow down, and give ourselves permission NOT to be the “PERFECT” bride, entrepreneur, mother, partner or employee, we’re also giving ourselves permission to BE HUMAN—and woman, that’s some serious LIBERATION!

During any right of passage, whether it be getting married, launching a business or program, having a child, throwing a party or event, dealing with a death, or even celebrating a birthday or a new year—if we don’t allow ourselves to slow down, connect to our bodies, and feel our feelings and release them during the process, we will eventually crumble and crash…HARD.

We need to understand that we don’t have to hold all of our feelings and emotions all the time…that we can FEEL SAFE to acknowledge them for what they are, and then let them go. In turn, this helps us to stay healthy and balanced—emotionally and physically for years to come.

And I’m serious when I say healthier, as crying has valuable mental and physical benefits, such as banishing the stress hormone cortisol, releasing other toxins that accumulate in our systems when we feel stressed or anxious, and healing our stressed out systems naturally…and laughter does the same! That’s right people… FEELING = HEALING for REALZ.

Because I did this emotional prep-work beforehand, my wedding day was truly MAGNIFICENT. It was a serious LOVE FEST–even though my partner and I both come from broken families, and my parents were seeing/speaking to each other for the first time again in 3 and 1/2 years! Because I took the time beforehand to express my feelings to them, to myself, and to the Universe, my wedding weekend was a very healing and joyful experience for all of our family and dearest friends that were involved. And that was my DREAM.

So, if you’re feeling anxiety, doubt, fear, guilt, shame, or negativity around a certain situation, or during a specific right of passage in your life, AND if you’re feeling happiness, bliss, joy, elation, and love, I invite you to REALLY ALLOW YOURSELF to experience these emotions, REALLY FEEL INTO THEM. MEDITATE, WRITE it out, TALK to the Universe out loud like a crazy woman, COMMUNICATE FREELY with your peeps, MOVE them through, and LET them GO… And in turn, you can expect MIRACLES AND WONDER.