Stillness and Emotion

I always need to remind myself and so I felt it apt to share and remind others of the importance of stillness in the face of emotion...

Emotion can be seen as energy in motion (e-motion). This means that our emotions carry a certain charge which evoke movement within us. There are different emotions and therefore different charges which will effect the body in different ways - fear can freeze us, happiness can open us up, sadness can make us sink and anger can send us through the roof.

Emotions are less a cerebral process and more bodily in that we feel them. The mind can then carry out its process of understanding and analysing these emotions to give clarity to why they are there, particularly the emotions that challenge us. This is, in short, the process of becoming self aware - why do I act/react the way I do?

Our emotions can therefore be our guides to how we live our lives. If we find ourselves to be in constant fear, anger or sadness, we can question why this may be the case. These questions lead to answers which are most commonly a result of our past and more often than not they are rooted in our childhood. Our emotions are therefore an indicator or expression of the depths of our being and in order to get in touch with our emotions we have to feel them, we have to bring our awareness into our body.

This is stillness. The act of trying to become conscious of what is happening in our bodies requires presence, a clear and still mind and the willingness to go to those places that are causing pain, distress, sadness, anger etc. Of course there are tools out there such as meditation that try to facilitate this process of coming into the body, being aware of the breath, of the feet etc. But if something triggers us in day to day life, brings up strong emotions, then sitting with and feeling that emotion, allowing it to be there is an important gateway into self understanding and the road to living from our truth. We can only be authentic within ourselves when we have journeyed the path to self discovery.

Its not easy, and there can be a lot of pain there, but we have the choice to start. Emotions are rooted in our unconscious depths, and are often the result of unconscious patters from our past. To feel emotions is to begin working with the unconscious aspects of the self and therefore working on our motivations for doing what we do, being who we are and heading in the direction that we're heading.

I practice acupuncture in Forest Row and East Grinstead and I work with my patients by helping them to realise this unconscious side to themselves through treatment and conversation. Acupuncture has an immense capacity to help us on our journey to self discovery and ultimately inner peace.