Today’s insights into emotions and the transformative journey continue from the previous post, “Emotions and Healing.” With the understanding of the important place of the emotional life in opening to mystical transformation, we turn our attention to how this awareness of emotion can help us progressively shift to our heart dimension.
If we observe negative emotions, we will also be able to observe negative thoughts. The genuine awareness of emotion lets us either fully express the emotion in consciousness or diminish its power and necessity through detachment. By changing the circuitry of negative emotion that anchors our fear based ego self, we can more easily open to and remain in the heart through the Spirit. In the heart, beyond the fear and doubt of the mind, we are free to love and create in joy.
If we put our attention on observing and changing our thoughts first, it is more difficult to become aware of the underlying emotions that support negative conditioning. As we become more aware of the subtle changes and shifts in our emotional state throughout our day, it will become easier to recognize negative thoughts and self-talk.
The observation of emotions and thoughts becomes a way of life in the mystical journey. Supporting the effort of continual observation are daily meditative practices, ie. detachment from the contents of the mind (mindfulness meditation, centering prayer), both directed and non-directed prayer, and inner self practices such as Heart Math’s “Freeze Frame.” In the freeze frame practice, we learn to shift attention to our heart dimension as soon as we recognize a negative reaction.
As we begin to understand our emotional wounds, we open to the grace of healing our being from the negative inertia of fear. We will open to our true self by living from the heart in the infinite love and creativity of the Spirit. When operating from the fullness of the heart, we will put our mind, emotions, and body in the service of self-giving love and creative work.