What's your favorite emotion to experience? Can you take yourself there right now? Can you close your eyes and feel it just by recalling a memory? For me that favorite emotion is Joy, and I take every chance I get to experience it and share it with others. I'm not against feeling all of the other emotions in life, I just prefer Joy, and so I intentionally live there in that state of being more often than any other. My psychology teacher in high school told me, in front of the entire class, that I must be chemically imbalanced because I'm so happy all the time despite all the negative things that were going on in my life during those years. My response to him? If you're going to be chemically imbalanced, this is definitely the way to be! I have always known though, that it was a choice, not a chance chemical reaction. Regardless of what is going on around me I have always had the ability to choose and embody the state of emotional being I want. Now, that's not to say I always exercise the control and sense of awareness to do so. I experience all of the emotions: Anger, Sadness, Grief, Fear, Compassion, Joy, Peace, Love, and all the other nuances possible. I've blown up in rage. I've cried rivers of tears. I've waded through bogs of depression. I've had panic attacks so severe I thought my heart would burst. There have been moments of trauma and PTSD along the way as well. I don't regret those experiences, but in the end I still prefer Joy. If you'd like some tools to help you understand how to choose your preferred emotion, and experience it more often, I'd recommend you check out HeartMath. I just finished viewing their course, The HeartMath Experience, which is free this month (May 2020). It gives practical science based techniques for shifting your emotions, raising your awareness of how your heart communicates with your brain, and improving your quality of life from within. I've never really been able to explain to people how I choose my emotional state. It's sort of spontaneous because I've been able to do it since I was a child. I'm glad some scientists decided to study this process, and that they have used their research to make it more accessible to the world. Mahatma Gandhi said "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I'd paraphrase his wisdom: Create the change you wish to see in the world inside of yourself. Choose Joy. Choose Peace. Choose Love. Choose the highest possible expression of yourself.
>>Update August 2020<<
As I have continued to use the HeartMath techniques these past 3 months, I have felt really connected with their positive impact on my emotional states of being. I've decided to take a more active role in sharing their work with my clients, so I've enrolled to become a HeartMath Certified Mentor and Trainer. Once I am certified, I will be able to teach workshops on the HeartMath techniques. I anticipate completing the Mentor certification for small groups in October 2020, and the Trainer certification for large groups in December 2020. If you are interested in a local workshop in Southeastern WI or Northeastern IL, I'd be happy to connect and keep you informed on my certification status and upcoming workshop schedule.
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