🌊 The Hidden Power of Symbolic Release: Transforming Worry with Ancient Wisdom & Modern Science

Dianne A. Fanti, MS, CPC
Jul 7
3 min read

Updated: Jul 7

What if our emotions, especially the challenging ones, were like waves—looking for a shore to land upon? And what if, by giving them an outlet and a simple ritual for release, they could become passing waves instead of unexpected and lingering storms?

Across many healing traditions, from trauma-informed therapies to body-based approaches like acupuncture, there’s a deeper, shared understanding – that unexpressed emotional energy needs a channel and an exit.

Let’s explore a simple 3-step process that you can use to help transform your relationship with emotions like worry:

1. Befriending Emotions ~ When Worry Feels Like a Storm with No Shore

Worry, in particular, can feel relentless. It hums persistently in the background, a storm without a visible shore to land upon. But what if, instead of pushing it away or trying to control it, we could simply acknowledge it?

What if we could befriend it with compassionate internal dialogue:

"Hi again, my old friend Worry. I see you. Thank you for trying to protect me and keep me safe."

That simple recognition can signal a profound shift. It creates space for the feeling to be, rather than to intensify.

2. Symbolizing Your Emotion ~ Making it Tangible

Once acknowledged, we can then symbolize the emotion. What if your worry could become something smaller that you could hold in your hand? Maybe you could imagine it as a smooth worry stone that you could turn about in your hand, or even a piece of sea glass, that's become softened by the sands of time.

As an old greeting card suggests, "The most beautiful stones have been tossed by the wind, turned by the sea, and polished to brilliance over time."

Turning your emotion into something tangible that can be contained allows you to see it differently—as something smaller than you.

3. Releasing to Something Greater

And what if you could then imagine that symbolized emotion was also being held by something greater than you, more vast and nurturing, something that has been around much longer and that will outlive us all? Something that nurtures and holds all the life it encounters, like the sea? Or perhaps you might release it to your future self, the Divine, or the Universe?

This isn't just a metaphor. In fact, for a weary person who's adrift in a stormy moment in the sea of life, it's like a life raft appearing at the moment when you need it. It offers real and trusted relief—a felt sense that you don't have to carry this alone anymore. 🛟

Psychological Wisdom

Carl Jung, one of the founders of depth psychology, believed that the unconscious speaks through symbols — and that healing often begins when we allow feelings to take symbolic form. He said:

“Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.”

When we move towards engaging with our feelings through the body or imagery, something shifts. We stop trying to “solve” the feeling and start witnessing it. He continued:

“The soul speaks in images. Symbols are the natural language of the psyche.”

These symbols — whether in dreams, objects, or rituals — help us access a kind of wisdom that lives below the surface of conscious thought. These symbols give us a connecting bridge, a pathway from raw emotion to integration.

🧠 The Neuroscience of Letting Go

This practice is more than poetic; it's actually neurological. As we intentionally direct and retrain our minds through symbolic release, we begin to strengthen new neural pathways. And this allows us to create healthier habits, moving from reactivity towards more intentional responses, and over time, towards more emotional freedom.

💡 Building Emotional Skills That Last

Symbolic release is just one tool — but it’s a powerful and timeless one.

In my work as a behavioral wellness innovator, I teach individuals, families, and professionals how to get more desirable outcomes by using transformative tools. Because emotional health isn’t just about crisis management — it’s about building new habits and pathways that help us stay well, not just get well.

If you're interested in learning more strategies to channel emotions constructively and build resilience from the inside out, I invite you to explore my Free Resources or learn more about my skill-building training programs.

You don’t have to keep everything inside. Sometimes, letting go symbolically is the most profound thing you can do.