Hi there,
We're looking at emotional first aid,
Emotional wisdom.
Critical for our well-being is the flavour,
The colour,
The texture of life.
All comes from our emotional experience.
Emotions can come crashing down on us like a wave,
Surf,
The ocean.
I often think of the ocean when I think of emotions and how changeable they are depending on the conditions,
The weather conditions,
Depending on the terrain.
And so depending on who we're with or what's going on in our life,
Also internally what might be going on for us,
The emotions can come crashing down or they can be peaceful and calm.
Sometimes we can be in conversation with a friend and feel touched.
We might cry or we might all of a sudden feel extremely angry like road rage in the car.
Emotions are never static.
They rise and they fall.
They fluctuate,
They pass and they change as experiences change.
I've come to the opinion that emotions are actually quite easy to deal with.
Once we accept them,
Understand them,
Seek to understand emotions in other people.
I like to think of sitting with an emotion,
Having a cup of tea,
Emotionality and what's the potential that's in that emotion for me,
For you.
I'm suggesting that we have a radical relationship with our emotions because for so long we've wanted to avoid what we say are uncomfortable feelings by denying them or keeping busy so we can quickly override them.
I've found though and so have many others that if emotions are not acknowledged they just get louder and louder until you have no choice but to listen.
And sometimes they completely have you bedridden and you just have to listen.
What is going on?
Sometimes you can feel a bit awkward or dumb or uncomfortable trying to understand and work out these emotional experiences.
What's going on?
And especially if you're someone who's quite reasonable and rational and likes to be in control,
Emotions can sometimes get in the way of that.
I find that actually quite delightful.
Well not all of the time but sometimes.
So we try to numb it as we know with different things just to take off the edge,
Just to get the intensity manageable.
And not all emotions are bad,
Ugly or dangerous.
Emotions are truly an indication to us of how safe or unsafe we are feeling and we're saying that feelings are important because your subjective feeling has an effect.
What you feel in your emotions links in to your biology,
To your physiology and the mind and the body connects through emotions.
This is wonderful work because when we have experiences in our lives that might be traumatic or crisis situations,
We feel them.
They're emotional experiences.
Fear,
Anger,
Grief,
Loss.
And also we have those emotions of connection and love.
Emotions such as admiration,
Ecstasy,
Joy,
Serenity.
But we do tend to give positive and negative kind of labels.
If we can try to be open to naming what the feeling is without giving it the negative and the positive.
Obviously it feels great when we can have the positive but sometimes the real thing is we feel pissed off and there's good reason for it.
Let's not avoid it.
Let's see if we can understand what's going on.
So over the next few days we're going to be looking at individual emotions such as loneliness,
Such as rage,
Such as grief and loss.
And you'll have an opportunity to explore your own emotions.
Ones that really get to you.
Bye for now.
