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| The storms of our fluctuating emotions |
Healing systems such as Traditional Chinese medicine, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Reiki, Yoga, Kung fu, Chi Kung and other Eastern Arts consider mental/emotional factors an important part of healing and maintaining high levels of health and wellness. Various forms of therapy in Western cultures also acknowledge the importance of a healthy mind and emotional well-being. Many more doctors in this age are asking people about their stress levels and we find countless books we can read and programs we can sign up for which all offer practical ways for us to improve ourselves in these areas.
Mental/emotional states affect our body's state of tension/relaxation. This, in turn, impacts muscles, meridians, energy flows and organ health. We limit our experiences in the world and what we choose to engage with due to fears, anxieties and so on. We are also aware of how our internal states impact our decisions such as what we eat or how much we eat ... substance abuse and other choices we make day to day.
Factors which affect our mental/emotional states:
-- our thoughts, words and actions we make in the world and inside ourselves
-- what we learn to place our attention and mental focus on ... or lack of attention and focus
-- foods we eat
-- quality, type, intensity and frequency of exercise
-- stress factors in our lives ... in the environments we engage with most
-- family patterns and our conditioning as children and over our lifetime - habits
-- our overall health .... illness and/or accidents ... or illness we are born with
-- our internal reactions to our experiences ... and any traumas we may have experienced over time
-- any training or personal experiential work we may have engaged in
-- our personality type (here, astrological influences of time of our birth may be included)
-- our personal level of Being
Personal level of Being
This last point I made above is the one I choose to focus on the most in the Work I do and teach to others. When we alter our level of Being we can either degrade or develop ... evolve ... grow ... whatever word you wish to use to describe what is often referred to as enlightened or a 'higher' state of Being ... higher, having a few different meanings here.
When we are enlightened in the way that I use the word, it suggests that much of what has been lying in the darkness of our consciousness ... wreaking havoc in our lives, health and energy levels has been brought out into the light of our awareness. To me, an enlightened individual has faced many aspects of themselves and has attained a level of mastery over themselves ... creating an inner unification which in tern affects them in beneficial ways on multiple levels. As we awaken and continue to grow spiritually, an 'enlightened' person can come to mean other things as well.
How does one become split (within) in the first place? How does one develop the ability to suppress feeling and experience ... separate the body and the mind ... interrupt natural free flowing energies and breathing patterns? ... creating a perfect environment for many things to lie buried deep within which we then work very hard (albeit unconsciously) to keep them there? Why do we not even realize (for those who have not the awareness or for those who have not embarked on inner work) that this is truly the reality of most of our imbalances?
Once again, it is our friend CONDITIONING ... subtle repetitive habitual patterns over time. It is like travelling in one's car. Initially one is very aware of the roads and the way to get to where one is going. Over time, if one goes the same way over and over, one will eventually find oneself going into automatic pilot mode (or more accurately ... unconsciousness ... where one is not really fully there .. fully present ... one is thinking of other things, for example ...). Suddenly one wakes up and says ... Wow, I am here already?
This is the same with our mental and emotional patterns. We develop them over time and then we just go on in life, fall into unconscious patterns and occasionally wake up and say, `Wow ... How did I get into this mess?' Or `Why am I so upset over such and such?' ... Or `Why is it that I always react the same way to this particular type of person or situation?' ....or `Why do I always attract this type of thing into my life?'.
In the Work we engage in at Souhl Center, we use keys which assist us in mastering ourselves so that we can heal our mental/emotional patterns, regain lost energies we have wasted in holding in place patterns which have only served to keep us stuck. In doing this Work, we have the opportunity to expand our development in all aspects of our being.
There is a popular saying which is very true indeed:
I have added the additional first line to the saying below. Thoughts are the real culprit behind most emotions. Thoughts and emotions are so closely connected that I have come to place them together (mind/emotions) in the writing I do. If one is aware, self-reflective and vigilant, one can come to observe that indeed it is a thought that usually comes before an emotion. We emotionally respond, due to habit and conditioning, to where we place our mental attention. I have come to see, in doing my own Work, that this is true.
Also remember, while reading this, that emotions = energy in motion. If you do so, this can be seen on another level too.
Watch your thoughts, for they affect your emotions.
Watch your thoughts for they also affect your words.
Watch your words; they affect your actions.
(Here, I like to also add ... watch your thoughts and emotions, for they can affect your movements inside and out in life ... this includes your body movements, which can tell us a lot about where a person is holding tensions etc.)
Watch your actions; they can become your habits.
Watch your habits; they can become your character.
Watch your character, for it can become your destiny.
If we continue to keep doing the things we have been doing and we can come to see that the results of doing so are detrimental to our well-being and growth physically, mentally/emotionally and spiritually, then we can Work to do something new. Doing so consistently and persistently over time is a Key!
