When we use emotions we are
using energy. We don't just "have" emotions. They
are energies of our souls we are using. We need to take conscious
control of the direction of our emotional energies. They effect our health
and overall well bein
g.
The science of
Psychoneuroimmunology, (PNI) studies the interaction of body, mind, and emotions
on the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems. Their studies contribute to
a large body of evidence that indicate emotions influence the body. Sustained
negative emotions and feelings such as anger, hostility, hatred,
depression and repression have a negative impact on health and impede recovery
from illness.
The current research in the field
of (PNI) on the effects of sustained negative emotions and the research of the
HeartMath Institute on the effects of sustained positive emotions makes it
difficult for the health care profession to ignore the impact of the emotions on
the health and well being of the body, mind, heart and soul.
POSITIVE EMOTIONS ARE POSITIVE
ENERGIES
Emotions or feelings such
as faith, hope, love, charity, kindness, appreciation, peace,
encouragement, courage, perseverance, should be cultivated. Spend
more attention focused on their development.
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE
NEGATIVE Energies
Emotions or feelings such
as hatred, jealousy, rage,
fear, anger, stress, lust, greed, gluttony should be minimized. Less
attention focused on their development. Spend more attention focused on
their eliminatio
n.
We need to redirect the energy spent in negative emoitons into positive
emoitional energy.
Make lists of your positive
feelings and negative feelings or emotions. Work to maximize
positive feelings with your attention centered in your heart and, while in
the heart, work to dissolve and eliminate negative emotions.
The
following Freeze-Frame™ techniques can help in this process.
The key elements of the technique are: Shift (to the area of the
heart), Activate (a positive feeling), and Sense (what is the best
perspective or attitude for this situation). In most training contexts, we
first lead people through several exercises designed to aid them in
identifying their deepest core values and the people, places, or events
they truly appreciate.
This helps them with Step 3, where they are asked to
self-generate a feeling of appreciation or other positive emotion. This
shift to a positive emotional state, or at least to a more neutral
feeling, is an important aspect of the technique's effectiveness. For
those people for whom it may be initially difficult to self-generate a
feeling of appreciation in the present moment, it is generally helpful to
suggest that they remember a time or experience in the past when they felt
sincere appreciation and then attempt to re-experience that feeling in the
present.
With practice, however, most people become able to
self-generate feelings of appreciation in real time and no longer need the
past time reference.
The Steps of Freeze-Frame™:
1. Take a time-out so that you can temporarily disengage from your
thoughts and feelings-especially stressful ones.
2. Shift your focus of attention to the area around your heart-now feel
your breath coming in through your heart and out through your solar
plexus.
(Practice breathing this way a few times to ease into the technique.)
3. Make a sincere effort to activate a positive feeling.
(This can be a genuine feeling of appreciation or care for someone,
some place or something in your life.)
4. Ask yourself what would be an efficient, effective attitude or
action that would balance and de-stress your system.
5. Quietly sense any change in perception or feeling and sustain it as
long as you can.
Heart perceptions are often subtle. They gently suggest effective
solutions that would be best for you and all concerned. (Also, remember
that the initial breating focus is not a technique in itself. As in
Eastern Orthdox Hesychastic prayer technques, breating is simply a means
of focusing the attention in the heart.)
The Heart Lock-In™ is an emotional restructuring
technique, which is generally taught as a companion tool to Freeze-Frame™.
The Heart Lock-In™ technique focuses on building the capacity to sustain
heartfelt positive emotions and physiological coherence for longer
periods. If desired, practice of this technique may also be facilitated by
music specifically created to promote emotional balance and augment the
favorable psychological and physiological effects of positive affective
states.
In essence, the Heart Lock-In™ technique is designed to
reinforce or "lock in" the coherent psychophysiological patterns
associated with appreciation and other positive affective states. With
practice, these coherent patterns become increasingly familiar, thus
promoting increased physiological efficiency, mental acuity, and emotional
stability as the new, familiar baseline or norm. Once this is
accomplished, the system then attempts to maintain this state
automatically.
The key elements of the technique are: Focus (in the area
of the heart), Appreciate, and Radiate (love and care). In the midst of
life's perpetual activity, the Heart Lock-In™ offers a simple way to
cultivate and amplify heartfelt positive feelings and their nourishing
effects on the body and psyche.
As with the Freeze-Frame™ technique, it is important in
the Heart Lock-In to try and genuinely experience the feeling of
appreciation, as opposed to merely calling up a mental concept or image.
Because of its active emotional focus, the Heart Lock-In™ imparts a
state that is physiologically distinct from that induced by most
relaxation exercises, whose main aim is to lower arousal levels.
Relaxation is associated with an increase in parasympathetic activity, but
generally does not produce prolonged periods of physiological coherence
.
The coherent mode previously described is also associated
with a shift in autonomic balance toward increased parasympathetic
activity, thus encompassing a main element of the relaxation response, yet
it is physiologically distinct from relaxation because, unlike relaxation,
it is also characterized by system-wide resonance and increased harmony
and synchronization in nervous system and heart-brain dynamics.
Heart Lock-In Steps:
1. Gently shift your attention to the area around your heart.
2. Shift your breathing so that you are breathing in through the heart
and out through the solar plexus.
3. Activate a genuine feeling of appreciation or care for someone or
something in your life.
4. Make a sincere effort to sustain feelings of appreciation, care or
love while radiating them to yourself and others.
5. When you catch your mind wandering, gently focus your breathing back
through the heart and solar plexus and reconnect with feelings of care or
appreciation.
(After you've finished, sincerely sustain your feelings of care and
appreciation as long as you can. This will act as a cushion against
recurring stress or anxiety.)
