Emotions

Now that we’ve given ourselves permission to listen, let’s talk about the different areas that show up and why. Let us look at it from a threefold perspective: mind, body, soul. This last week’s exercise was all about listening to the mind and learning that it’s okay to listen when it speaks. But what about our emotions? Can they speak to us too?

I truly believe that they show up for specific reasons at a specific time when unprompted. Let me explain what I mean by that. There are times that I will have an emotional reaction to a situation that it’s very understandable. Those videos on the internet of kids getting reunited with a parent get me every single time. The reason is, at that moment there is nothing I need to understand other than processing that emotion. What about when I feel something but there is no explanation for it? For example, butterflies in the top of my abdomen are generally associated with anxiety or excitement but if I don’t have an event to connect that emotional feeling to then I also need to stop and slow down so that I make sure I’m not missing something. Now with the same type of exercise you can change it to suit your emotional communication system as well. A simple word change of “I wonder what I’m going to feel next” or when it pertains to a feeling that’s already there, “I wonder why this is showing up.” Both are proactive responses in order to be mindful in that situation about what your body is trying to tell you. Normal social responses nowadays tell you to ignore it, stuff it down, deal with it later, or run from it all together. We trick ourselves into dealing only with the symptom, not why the symptom is there. I believe our emotional health is just as important as our mental health and should be treated the same way and held in the same level of respect. This too takes work, practice, and a safe place to explore from. A safe place is not something that somebody else provides for you. It starts with you having the courage to explore and get to know yourself, but the first step to that as well is being willing to look, feel, and ask. The final stage to that analogy is soul and like the first two, it deserves the same level of attentiveness and respect if not more so. For thousands of years, every culture has come up with a different way of explaining the guidance or the intuition that is within us all, in truth the framework that you use to understand that guidance is the same thing as the bridges we discussed earlier on in the course. Connecting two shores that were previously unconnected and just like everything else, the courage to look and ask changes everything. 

Like everything we have discussed in this course so far, the examples that I’m using are merely starting points for you to try. Each bridge that you experiment on, you will decide if it’s crossable or not or if you like the way it feels, or you don’t. I want to remind you once again to experiment often and don’t feel captive to one exercise. Be curious and explore and find the courage to ask those questions to yourself. All three levels of communication be it mind, body or soul have room for flexibility and personal context providing beneath the surface you truly want it.  So be bold!