Getting to the Root of Negative Emotions
Urg…those negative emotions. Sometimes they can seem to pop out of the blue and put a damper on what was an otherwise good day.
So what gives with the negativity we can experience and how can we let negative emotions go when they appear?
First, know that having negative emotions (just like positive emotions) are going to happen from time to time regardless of your circumstances. For most of us, negative emotions are part and parcel of the human experience so don’t beat yourself up about it or feel you should somehow be above experiencing them.
Second, understand that we have a choice as to which emotions we express and in how much we let them impact our life experience.
Third, emotion is more akin to an action we take rather than a state.
Fourth, understand that while any number of experiences can trigger a negative emotion, the experience itself is not the root reason for why we experience negative emotions.
To get to the root reason, we need to dig deeper.
It’s time for a MindShift Moment…
While we may feel that emotions are out of our control and our brain is hard-wired to have them, neither is true. Scientific research has shown that our brain does not contain any emotion brain circuits*. Emotions (both negative and positive) are something we make up as the result of 2 root reasons:
The Ego.
The Illusion of Reality.
The Ego:
The ego is a tad self-centered. It is focused on itself as an individual and believes it is justified in how it perceives and reacts. It bases much of its actions (including emotional responses) on past experiences, along with the beliefs and mindsets it has about itself, others and the physical world it lives in. The ego will draw on these past experiences, inner beliefs and mindsets to determine whether an experience should illicit a negative or positive emotion.
The Illusion of Reality:
Nothing, in reality, is as it appears.
From the limits of our 5 basis senses, our mind drawing on past experiences, beliefs, and mindsets, etc. the reality we perceive is quite different from the true reality and is perceived uniquely by each of us.
For example,
Quantum physics tells us that everything is energy and at the subatomic level separation disappears. It’s about vibration and energy aligning with the energy it is in like resonance with.
While our 5 basic senses are very helpful in navigating the physical environment we are experiencing, they are limited in many ways. A quick search of other life forms shows us that what they see with their eyes alone can be quite different from what we see with our eyes.
Our past experiences, beliefs, and mindsets come together to create a reality of perception. That is why despite reading the same article as another, you may have a different perception of what was written.
When we bring the two root reasons together (the Ego, and The Illusion of Reality), it becomes easy to see that an emotional response is simply an action based on our perception of an experience. Once we are consciously aware of these roots, we can begin to take the steps to become consciously aware of our emotional responses. We can see them for the illusion they are and ask ourselves, “why am I choosing this emotional response?”, “How is this response serving me?”
How to deal with negative emotions when they pop up…
Don’t beat yourself up or labour over it when it happens. Doing so only adds fuel to the negative response loop in your mind. Let it go. Replace it with a positive thought even if you’re not feeling positive at the moment. For example, “I am thankful for the breath I just took.”
See them as the illusion your ego has created for itself. Remember, science has shown us that the brain does not have any emotion circuits*.
Identify the experience that appeared to bring on the negativity and understand that it is your perception of the experience rather than the experience itself that caused the negative emotion.
Ask yourself how the negative emotion is serving you. Remember, we only hold onto things that serve us in some way.
Remember, emotions (negative or positive) are part of having a human experience. With that, it’s not so much about trying to ignore them, it’s about understanding why we have them, seeing them as an action we choose and providing your brain with new information in order to change how it (you) react in terms of emotion to future experiences.
A helpful link…
* If you are interested in learning more about our brain and emotion, check out this Ted Talk by scientist Lisa Feldman Barrett – “You aren’t at the mercy of your emotions. Your brain creates them.”
‘Til next time if you liked this, please social share it. Together we can help create a global mind shift.
