A recent client expressed that after a few years of doing mindful meditation, they thought the process could lead to dissociation from reality. I had to agree (tee hee). Instead they preferred to focus on emotion regulation. Emotion Regulation is defined as the ability to consciously up-regulate or down-regulate your emotions. Up-regulating means you’re intentionally intensifying your emotional reaction. For example, you’re thrilled about your new job so you go around telling others in order to boost your own gratitude, energy, and excitement.
Down-regulation is about consciously working to reduce the intensity of an emotion, usually negative ones. This requires great self-awareness with regard to your feelings. For example, you lost your boyfriend and are feeling extremely sad. So you begin to think about a new boyfriend as a way to down-regulate by realizing how that will make you feel. With a new positive energy, you shift away from the loss and begin to manifest that which you desire.
Personally, I prefer moving meditation (walking cycling, hiking, etc.). The alpha brain wave state can be achieved while the mind is busy with routine or repetitive activities. This allows brilliant strategies and solutions to life’s problems to appear. For this reason, I use intentions with movement to create a regulated emotional state of being. Let’s get a whisper on emotion regulation.
The key to emotion regulation is self-awareness, which can be hindered during periods of emotional flooding or depressed states. The previous whisper on order equals peace touched on emotion regulations. The body, mind, and spirit thrive under conditions that support a regular and often predictable routine. Chaos and disorder as a way of life tend to de-regulate the entire system.
Each person must find their way to emotion regulation. With self-awareness of a system going into chaos due to negative emotions, an intentional strategy can lead to the best process for returning to grounded center. Meditation can lead to ungrounding for some, but for others can be a very grounding activity. Ungrounding is another word for de-stabilization of energy. When the root energy center goes out of balance, fear follows, bringing with it a variety of emotional responses. Stabilization is regulation, so one must choose their most grounded activity. Being in nature, exercising, beginning a new routine, visiting with a stable friend, mind mapping, a group activity, or taking any action that is grounding can lead to emotion regulation.
Planning a trip can lead to regulating emotions because it allows you to dream about the possibilities. Dreaming can down-regulate, while finding the blessing in a situation and expressing gratitude can up-regulate. The main message is become aware of your emotions to determine how and why you are experiencing the current conditions. Awareness is the first sign that healing or resolution is at hand. As messaged in the last whisper, be like the leopard and accept that you have spots. You will be more accepting of yourself, others, and the events that shape your life.
Acceptance and understanding are forgiveness with a willingness to regulate emotions.
Bring joy, ease suffering and create beauty, then dance like you mean it!
Blessings, Russell
“Even when emotions seem to overtake life, such as when we are depressed or anxious or angry, it is important to remember that those emotions still give us important information. Rather than judging our emotions, practice acceptance of them and open your mind to their messages. Rejecting emotions or trying to push them away usually intensifies them. If the message is not heard, it needs to get louder. As an example, invalidation by others tends to intensify emotions, and self-invalidation has the same effect.” Lane Pederson
