Living Life Among the Flow

As our world is shifting, we are awakening to “new” forms of healing and definitions of health.  We are returning to the wisdom that traditional and holistic healers have known for centuries (if not longer), most illness is the result of emotional and/or spiritual imbalance.  What this means is that to truly heal and recover, you cannot simply mask or remove the physical symptoms, you need to get to the core issue.

A large contributing factor to emotional imbalance which can then lead to dis-ease is trapped, unprocessed, or held emotions.  If we consider our culture, there are few emotions that are okay to be expressed.  We are allowed to feel happy and joyful (in fact, women are generally expected to be happy).  And we are allowed to feel angry, though mostly this emotion is saved for men and it is only allowed when directed at groups of people who “deserve” the anger.  We all know the saying “Boys don’t cry” and it is assumed that it is okay for women to cry.  I disagree.   

Unshed Tears

The majority of my female clients do not express their tears; they are carrying many unshed tears.  Do you know what happens when we hold our tears?  We block the ducts, which then blocks the lymphatic system, which interferes with our body fluids and can cause cysts, lumps, tumors, thickened fluids (such as thickened mucus in the lungs - contributing to asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia).  As crying is a built-in cleansing mechanism, we also preventour body from good energetic hygiene, dumping all that is not needed (energetically and physically).  Of course, this is only one component of an emotion (or actually a reaction from an emotion).  We have so many other emotions that we do not allow ourselves to express or even know how to express safely.  

Emotions are a natural part of life, they allow us to take action (including resting or no action).  They give meaning to life.  In essence, they are a good part of why we are here, as part of this journey is to experience this world through the body and the senses.  It is hard to do that without having an emotion. 

Emotional Flow

By their nature, emotions need to move.  In an ideal situation, we experience an emotion, express this, and then it dissipates.  We do this throughout the day.  Emotions become problematic when we aren’t doing this.  When we do not express our emotions, they build up in our body creating havoc, and generally this emotion becomes bigger and bigger until often a person explodes in a fit or a breakdown.  As Eliot Cowan says in Plant Spirit Medicine, “Emotions naturally move and flow like a stream.  When the mind suppresses the flow, it is as if a dam were built.  Upstream, a lake of unexpressed emotion builds up, becoming bigger and more permanent than it would have been had it been allowed to simply flow unobstructed.  Because emotions want to flow, the only way to keep an emotion around is to try not to have it.” (p.54)

When we do not express an emotion, a chain reaction occurs.  We saw part of this above.  The held emotions block-up or dam our body both energetically and physically.  As we do this more and more, our bodies become denser and it becomes harder to clear out what doesn’t serve us.  Causing our organs to work harder.  As our energetic field is filling with these negative emotions (negative in that they are blocked), we become a magnet, attracting other negative emotions and thought forms from our environment.  In addition, as Eliot Cowan said, the blocked emotions grow.  Our tolerance becomes less as there is less room for blocked emotions and we get “triggered” everywhere we turn.  These unprocessed emotions often get expressed as rage or even masked anger.  They can also get expressed through fear including OCD, eating disorders, and other psychological issues.  (As we fear the loss of control, we try to control everything.)  We often spew nasty statements or even energy towards others, trying to relieve some of the pressure from these emotions.  When we do this we essentially are filling the energetic environment with garbage.

Empaths/Sensitives

Now comes the role of empaths or sensitives.  These wonderful beings are naturally sensitive to the energies around them.  They act as filters (consciously and unconsciously) trying to clear the garbage.  (This is a job that we are all meant to do, but the empaths tend to take on more than their share.)  They will even absorb the unprocessed emotions of others with whom they’ve come into contact.  This is wonderful and generous of them and helps us to have a cleaner energetic environment.  However, if they are not clearing their own system, then these emotions that do not even belong to them can start wreaking havoc on their own physical bodies.  A common symptom of this is “burnout” and sadly, psychotic breaks.  (Taking on other’s emotional baggage, also prevents them from learning their lessons.)

So called “psychotic” people tend to be the most sensitive among us.  Generally, through trauma, soul loss, possession or experiences that forced their 1st eye open, they become ungrounded and lose their vitality or soul force.  Since they are extremely sensitive, they are receiving and collecting more and more of the unprocessed emotions and thought patterns.  Their ungroundedness prevents their filtering system from properly working and so these emotions and thoughts continue to build, compound, and attract more until they react.  Their actions which we usually find horrifying are actually the portrayal of the thoughts and emotions that we have all been spewing carelessly into our environment.  Therefore, the amount of “random” violence that we have been witnessing and experiencing with increasing frequency is connected to these unprocessed emotions.  And as much as we want to point our fingers at the shooters saying that they are "sickos", we are all responsible.  

Responsible, which does not mean guilty, does not mean take on guilt.  Responsible means response able, able to respond.  We can respond to this situation, we can change it, and we can bring healing to our World.  

The good news is when we do this, we heal ourselves.  For the answer to this problem is for each of us to become aware of our emotions and thoughts, process and express them appropriately and notice and heal the held emotions that remain in our bodies. 

Healing Emotional Blocks

So how do we do this?  Fortunately, our body is made to process and clear emotions, if we learn to allow our emotions to flow, this will happen naturally.  Crying, laughing, and having orgasms are part of the natural process to shake up our energetic field and release stuck emotions.  Since unprocessed emotions have a low energy charge, keeping your aura strong and vibrant and your vibratory rate high, will help protect you from taking on emotions and thought forms that do not belong to you. 

Here are some other suggestions:

• Plant Limpia, Egg Limpia, and Sacred Bathing all help to remove stuck energies from your body and aura, including held emotions.

• Massage with a good Massage Therapist also helps.  Through certain “trigger” points, your therapist can actually activate the held emotion/event.  S/he can call Light or her guides to transmute this energy, while you breathe through it and allow the emotion to flow again.  (I usually call on Mugwort when I am getting a massage.) 

• Smudging helps to clear emotions and thought forms that you have collected from your environment.

• Plant Spirit Healing (PSH) can help on many levels.  Mugwort is the main Plant that I work with to transmute and clear held emotions.  Occasionally, I call on Tulsi or Rose or another Plant to help with this.  PSH also helps to dig deeper, finding the core issue.

• Flower Essences are wonderful at transmuting and releasing held emotions, though the essence depends on which emotion(s) is being held and sometimes what the circumstance is around that emotion.  Flower Essences can also help to teach us to let the emotions flow.  For held grief or sadness, Onion Flower Essence is one of the best at helping to release the tears.  Motherwort Flower Essence is a great boundary setter.  As such, she can help you express anger that you may have kept inside.  Marshmallow Flower Essence is a wonderful softening essence, which can help those who have become hardened by cutting themselves off from their emotions.  Marshmallow can also be useful for those who are overflowing with anger.  These are just a few.

• If you feel overwhelmed by your emotions, you can send the excess into the Ground or to a Tree.  However, it is important that you ask the Tree or Ground to transmute the emotion (turn into a life-giving substance), otherwise we are simply poisoning them.  It is also best to ask permission before doing this.

• Spending time in Nature of course can help.  Nature bathes us in a special chemical compound that helps to relax our nervous system and puts us into Heart Coherence.  When we are able to do this, we are supporting our natural system that clears emotions.  Running water, especially waterfalls, are wonderful for clearing emotions.

• Of course one of the best ways to reduce held emotions, is to acknowledge your emotions and allow them to flow.  Therefore, it is a good idea to get to understand emotions, what you are feeling, and ways to express what you feel.  There are many great books and programs that can help with this.  I found Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg to be incredibly helpful in identifying different emotions.

• Doing personal work is often an important component in understanding emotions and releasing blockages.  Often we do not express particular emotions because that was what was required of us as a child.  However, as a healthy adult, this pattern is no longer serving.  Other times, we may have a limiting belief that needs to be cleared.  For instance, while they may be reluctant to admit it, many people have a fear of joy and do not want to express their happiness for fear that if they do, the “shoe will fall” and they will lose what they were joyful about.  Through personal work (and with the help of the Plants), they can discover that this fear is not necessary and limits them from having a joyful life.

• Dancing, singing, painting, sculpting, creating other forms of artwork, other forms of movement can all help you to both express your emotions and to release the held emotions.  Plus they are a lot of fun!  Remember healing yourself, getting to know yourself doesn’t have to be drudgery, it can be lots of fun!

If expressing emotions is a new skill for you, you may want to let your loved ones and immediate circle know that you are working on this.  Like learning to walk, learning to express our emotions can sometimes be a wobbly mess.  You may find yourself stumbling or even falling on your face.  You may react more strongly than needed or find yourself repeating old patterns.  Remember we live in the Universe of Perpetual Second Chances, so you will have another opportunity to try this skill.  You are learning, just like you eventually learned how to walk and then run, you will learn how to express your emotions (if you keep trying).  Even professional runners can still trip and fall.

I’d like to leave you with one last thought.  Our culture tries to portray that those who express their emotions are weak.  If we cry, we are not strong enough.  That is such a bunch of hogwash!  As you do this work, getting in touch with your emotions and expressing your emotions, and being comfortable to share them with others, you will discover that your Heart opens.  You will live a more authentic, Heart-centered life.  There is nothing weak about this!  In fact, living in this world with an open Heart is very hard work.  It takes a truly brave soul to be willing to be vulnerable.  As Jeff Brown writes in An Uncommon Bond, “Yes--sensitivity isn’t a sign of weakness.  It’s a sign of life.”  We are being asked to live a Heart-centered life, fortunately, those brave enough to take on this task, discover that the Plants and others are willing to guide us along the way.  And the rewards are great, for you truly live life!