Ep. 226- Emotions Don't Come From Thoughts [Myths About Emotions Series]

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This first episode in this Myth About Emotions Series is all about the Myth that Emotions come from Thoughts.  

What are emotions

I love to really slow things down and figure out what emotions are. We tend to focus a lot of our time and effort on the thoughts and what they create...however... thoughts are just a piece to the puzzle. Thoughts are the language of the brain. Emotions are the language of the body. We need both. And both don't necessarily come from each other. 

When we put all our focus on thoughts as being the only creator of the emotions, we create a gap. That gap puts us spinning and overthinking why we might be feeling a certain way when we could instead just FEEL the emotion. 

Today I want to share the method I created to help us get out of the thought work, and give ourselves the permission to feel our emotions. I call it the CALM method. It takes time to get to know our emotions, but I know that feeling our emotions will get you more leverage over yourself and your life than thought work alone. 

C. Call it out- 

This first step is to literally name the emotion. What is it you're feeling. Name it. Stay out of your head.  

A. Allow it-

 Go inside and locate where it is. Where is that emotion located? Then relax into it. Relax your body as you acknowledge the emotion. After you're relaxed, then you can take the steps to recognizing what it looks like. What color is it? What shape? Is it moving? Etc. 

L. Listen to it-

I call this emotion work 2.0. This is where everything changes. Once you've allowed your emotion, learning to listen to the message it has for you can change your experience with the emotion. What does it need to tell you? Listen to it. Validate it. 

M. Move with it-

Now is when you can do all the things you were wanting to do first. That thought work, models, walking, mediation.... now you can do those things because we first allowed the emotion. Moving with it will create a whole new experience for you as well.