I think what you're describing is one of the (if not THE) primary methods that are taught for dealing with this kind of stuff. I suppose it's called "sitting in

I think what you're describing is one of the (if not THE) primary methods that are taught for dealing with this kind of stuff. I suppose it's called "sitting in your emotions" - for a lack of better term. I think that you're pointing out an important nuance of that method - wether to keep a distance to the emotion or "going into it". I guess something important can also be said about the difference between ruminating - i.e. thinking about the hangup - or sitting in your feeling about it (kind of like massaging the painful thought) and observing how your body and mind responds to it. I don't really have a clear conclusion about these nuances - apart from it being helpful to try out the variations to see what works.