What If You Don’t Need To Name It To Tame It?

Exploring how labels can distance us from our direct experience... and what can happen when we drop them.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Name it to tame it.” And yes, sometimes naming emotions helps. But I’ve found that, in certain moments, trying to label what I feel can make things harder.

Names come with stories. And stories often bring fear, pressure, and judgment...

When I notice a reaction in my body and think, “I’m angry,” suddenly I’m not just dealing with the moment—I’m dealing with every idea I’ve ever had about anger... Anger is unpredictable. Dangerous. It needs to be managed. It could hurt someone. It might get out of control. 

Now, on top of whatever I was already feeling, I’ve added a layer of fear, judgment, and pressure—just from the label.

But if I pause and notice what’s happening in my body without labeling it, I’m left with something much simpler:\

• My hands are clenched

• I feel hot

• My heart is racing

• My body is restless, I want to move

So maybe I hike a little faster. Maybe I jog. Maybe I throw a few sticks into the woods if it feels safe. Or maybe I just walk and let those sensations move through me in their own time.

And they do move.They shift.They don’t stay.They have no interest in staying.Energy is meant to move. 

Labels Are Abstractions, Not Reality

Over time, I’ve come to realize that there is no emotion I can consistently identify. What I used to call “anger,” “sadness,” “joy,” or even “contentment” shifts depending on the moment, the context, and how it moves through my body. 

These emotion labels are just that, labels. They don’t reflect reality. They’re mental shortcuts we use to try to make sense of an incredibly complex inner experience. 

Imagine I have a collection of items:

Chopsticks, a match stick, a popsicle stick, a stick, a paint stick and a hiking stick... 

I could bundle them all together and call them “sticks.” But that word, "sticks," can’t possibly capture the essence of what I’m holding.

 Each “stick” has a different shape, texture, weight, and purpose. The label is a useful convenience, but it’s also an abstraction.

Now imagine I bundle a set of physical sensations - clenched fists, feeling hot, racing heart, and wanting to move - and call it “anger.” How could that one word possibly capture the full, lived experience of those sensations? It can’t. The label distances me from what I’m actually feeling.

That’s why, when we stop labeling and just notice what’s moving through us, things become very safe, very simple. We don’t have to make meaning out of it. We can walk. Breathe. Let the energy shift.

And it does shift - sometimes within seconds. These sensations aren’t meant to be contained or categorized. They’re just trying to pass through.

When they’re suppressed, ignored, or regulated away, that’s when things get stuck. But when we allow them, without naming or taming, they process themselves.

And really, processing is just this:

 - Letting sensations live their short lives. - Letting energy move the way it wants to. - Letting ourselves feel… without having to explain.

And then they often leave me. This truth has brought me a deep sense of safety in my own body.

Nothing stays.Nothing can take me over.It’s all just passing through.

And it's giving me important information.

Walking Companions

When I'm out on the trails, I think of these sensations as hiking partners. I don’t know who’s going to show up on the trail—or how long they’ll walk with me.

And while everything eventually shifts, there’s also something steady now; because slowing down with The Work of Byron Katie (a simple method of self-inquiry), especially Question #4 (“Who would I be without the thought?”) has built a deep, embodied reference point for what clarity and contentment feel like.

So when I drift from that state, I notice it sooner. I take better care of myself. Not by fixing emotions, but by listening inwardly, without the need for labels.

The sensations in the body are my honest reflection of what's going on with me. Sometimes the mind confuses, justifies, and explains things away... But the body just reflects how I'm doing with my current reality. It's quite simple.

Reflection

Next time you feel something rise inside you, try this:

• Skip the label.

• Feel what’s moving in your body.

• Let it move through you—step by step, breath by breath.

You might be surprised by how quickly it shifts. And how safe it feels not to name it at all.

With curiosity, 

Korinne

Summary of Supporting Sources:

• Lieberman et al., 2007 – Affect labeling and amygdala response

• Barrett, 2017 – How Emotions Are Made

• Porges, 2011 – Polyvagal Theory

• van der Kolk, 2014 – The Body Keeps the Score

• Levine, 1997 – Waking the Tiger

• Ogden, 2006 – Trauma and the Body

• Nagoski & Nagoski, 2019 – Burnout

• Oppezzo & Schwartz, 2014 – Stanford study on walking and creativity

• Egan et al., 2023 – Effects of The Work of Byron Katie on stress and wellbeing