Life, as we know it, is a collection of experiences over time. Every experience leaves an emotional impression on our spirit, energy, and in our minds. These impressions are what map the physical and emotional responses to certain things you encounter later. Subconsciously, we carry this emotional baggage with us everywhere. This article offers a healthy exercise that will guide you through releasing unwanted emotions and the negative energy associated with it.
When you have an experience that sends you into emotional imbalance of some sort, that experience is a trigger. It’s a trigger that is, through emotional mapping, associated with the original introduction to the emotion you are feeling. A lot of times your emotions are misdirected towards a person who has unknowingly triggered your negative emotions. You are not really bothered by the person, as much as you are the emotion that person triggers.
FIGURING THINGS OUT
Getting rid of the baggage is going to require you to reroute that emotional map. You do this through an exercise I call “baggage claim”. Baggage claim is an exercise that requires you to peel back the layers and get to the ROOT cause of your emotions. Once you learn how to do this, you apply it to every trigger that flips your emotions and start clearing out your emotional baggage.
CLAIMING YOUR BAGGAGE
This is the part when you reclaim who you were before you made an emotional connection to something negative. It’s best to do this exercise in a quiet spot with uninterrupted time. This exercise takes time, so be patient with the process. You will want to be in a slightly meditative and calm state when you begin the exercise. When you are ready, Let’s begin…
Focusing on your current most dominant negative emotion, Take a few minutes to engage in steady breathing. Breathing steadily, without pauses or interruption, brings your subconscious mind to the conscious state. Allow yourself to make this connection with the subconscious through breathing in order to proceed. You will know you have reached consciousness when your breathing becomes effortlessly steady. Once you feel comfortable with moving on begin to ask yourself these questions:
1. How do I feel?
You want to acknowledge the raw emotion. Say it out loud… I feel [emotion]. By doing this, you call attention to the conscious mind to begin recall of this emotion. Sit with this for a bit… Let your physical reactions to the emotion out. Take your time. When you are ready, ask yourself…
2. When did I last feel this way?
Say it out loud. This is going to begin the process of identifying what is triggering this emotion. Sit with this recollection for a little while. Evaluate the images that come to mind. Say out loud… “I am here with you now”. This will pin the emotion to the conscience state and allow you to identify the trigger.
Next ask out loud…
3. When was the FIRST time I felt this way?
Now you are calling for the original introduction to the emotion. Evaluate those images. How do they correlate to the LAST time you felt this way and what you are feeling now. Ask yourself, out loud…
4. Who was there?
Identify who was there. Sit with this for a bit and evaluate the images. What were they doing, wearing, eating… Etc. Ask…
5. What made me uncomfortable?
Identify what created this emotion for the first time. Say… I acknowledge this introduction to this emotion.
6. How did it make me feel?
If you have been focused this should bring you back to your current state of emotion. Sit with this for a bit and let the emotion flow through you. Do not run from the emotion… Do not divert from feeling the emotion. If it makes you want to scream… Scream! Allow yourself to fully feel that emotion. Don’t fight any urges you have as the emotion flows through you. Do not allow the emotion to cause you to harm yourself or anyone else.
Now, while you are IN the midst of your emotions, begin to SAY Thank You over and over. You are now recalling the mapped emotion, acknowledging it, and re-mapping the emotional association with gratitude. Embrace the release and continue to say thank you! As you begin to feel your emotions wind down, visualize how that first emotion could have gone to make you feel better. Evaluate the images you visualize to change that recalled scenario. Allow yourself to feel the new emotion.
Example: your recalled emotion is that you were left home alone for hours and felt scared and abandoned. You want to visualize, a person of love being present and comforting you. Making you feel safe and secure. You want to say “thank you for comforting and protecting me”. You are acknowledging that you understand and appreciate comfort and security. This is your revelation. This is most likely the root of your emotion for this example. The feeling of lack of security and comfort is scary and triggers your emotion. Now you can release that fear and re-associate it with gratitude and feelings of security. Words of affirmation are key here. You are feeling better already, and should affirm that new emotion by saying… “I am comfortable with being alone. I am secure and safe and I provide that security myself “.
Once you do this from start to finish for the first time, apply this same exercise to every ugly thing you encounter about yourself AND others. Your dislike for someone could be because your babysitter who wore a hair bun, was boring and fussed at you to get to bed on time. Now you have a problem with the coworker who happens to wear a bunch but can’t quite explain your dislike. These are the kinds of things you will reveal when you stop and drill down. Frustrated? Stop and drill down. This will always let you know what about your current situation is taking you there and you can release it right then and avoid misdirected emotions. This exercise is typically done with the help of a spiritual or holistic practitioner, however it is perfectly OK to do this yourself if you are an extremely private person. This is a very personal and revealing experience. It puts you back in control of your thoughts and emotions. It is an incredibly mindful way to unload and eliminate your emotional baggage.
One wonderful benefit from drilling down and releasing negative emotions, is that your body releases stored negative energy (positive ions) into your lymphatic system which will prepare you to release them through eliminating (going to the bathroom or sweat). You will be able to tell just how much your body has released in your elimination. You may experience an extremely full bladder several times after you release that energy and replace it with gratitude. You will also notice muscle tension relief or high energy (take a walk or jog-sweat). These are just the physical indications that should confirm you have released that emotional energy. The best part about this is it teaches you more about you. It forces you to be more mindful and operate in a more conscious state of mind. The end all result is peace of mind and makes for quality spiritual and emotional wellness. Be Well.
