Published September 11, 2025 | By Dayae Kim, LMFT, Collectors MD Referral Network

Have you ever felt stuck in your emotions? Anxiety creeps in, your body tenses, your stomach churns, and your mind spins with dread. The fear creates its own cage—you can’t shake it, and suddenly you feel trapped inside it.

When our emotions get stuck, it’s because we haven’t found a way to release them. Completing the cycle—recognizing, processing, and letting go—is what allows us to return to balance.

Recognize What Triggered The Emotion
Pause and name the cause. Was it an unexpected expense, a tense exchange with someone close, or even something as small as a plan falling through?

Notice How It Feels In Your Body
Anxiety often shows up physically. Tightness in your chest. A knot in your stomach. Heat rising in your face. Awareness is the first step toward release.

Take Action
Engage in something that moves the emotion through your system:

• Take a few deep breaths

• Stretch or walk

• Call a friend

• Journal or cry

• Do something grounding that brings you joy

Notice The Shift
After releasing, check in with yourself. That danger you felt at first often loses its grip. You realize you’re okay—and you’ve closed the loop on the emotional cycle.

Like water returning to stillness, completing the emotional cycle helps us move past the urge to seek relief in things we know we shouldn’t during moments of weakness.

Completing this cycle reminds us that emotions aren’t permanent. They move, they change, and when we let them pass through us, we gain perspective and clarity.

And here’s where it ties into collecting: often when we’re stuck in emotion, our impulse is to chase relief—sometimes through overspending, ripping wax, or chasing the next hit. We tell ourselves the high will erase the low. But the truth is, the hobby can’t complete that cycle for us. Only we can. If we learn to release emotions directly—without turning to compulsive behavior—we protect both our mental health and our wallets.

#CollectorsMD
The emotional cycle doesn’t need to end in overspending—it can end in release, reflection, and resilience.

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