Our Emotional Life – A Progressive Perspective

Our Emotional Life – A Progressive Perspective

By Kyle Christensen, DC

Several years ago I went through the Emotion Code Seminars by Dr. Brad Nelson. I began using this treatment technique successfully to help many of my patients.  I remember one day, working with a patient, it must have been our third or fourth session together, ‘releasing’ multiple trapped or suppressed emotions from her emotionally traumatic past.  I paused and commented, “This feels like it could go forever”. She said, “I was just thinking the same thing – does this ever end?”  Conversations with other practitioners seemed to confirm this. I would ask, “Are there ever times when someone comes to you and you DON’T find trapped emotions to release?” Their answers were always the same – “NEVER, the trapped and pent up emotions never cease.”

Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time, patience or money to see a health care practitioner endlessly. And while I have assisted many by following the procedures taught in the Emotion Code and the Body Code, I am not satisfied that it should go on forever. 

And so, I began to wrestle with this issue.  Like many truths, they do not and cannot become apparent without time, pondering and prayer. I began asking my patients (through a simple muscle response test) “How many trapped emotions do you have?” I found anywhere from dozens to thousands. Understand that most of the emotions that get stuffed down into the subconscious are stupid things (at least from the perspective where you may be emotionally today).

Let me give you an example:  You are three years old and you are trying to put your socks on all by yourself. Try as you may, you don’t have the coordination to put those sock on. In frustration, you throw the socks down.  As you look up, your older brother calls you a baby. “You can’t even put your own socks on, you baby.” You start to cry.  “See, I told you, you’re a baby.”  You stifle your tears and stuff the frustration and humiliation down into your subconscious. And as the title of the Book implies “Feeling buried alive, never die.”  Fast-forward a couple of years.  You are trying to learn to ride a bike, when you look over and see big brother watching. Sometime inside tells you, if you fall, you will be called a baby.  Rather than get on the bike, you decide you don’t even want to try.  So in this simple childhood example, we see how a trapped emotion can influence future behavior, without even consciously realizing it.

The treatment methodology of the Emotion Code is brilliant in its ability to assist in the release of trapped or suppressed emotion from the subconscious mind. Understand that when we do not have the support, the experience, the skills or maturity to adequately deal with an emotional situation, the subconscious mind, in a mode of survival may stuff the experiences or emotion into the unconscious or subconscious mind as a protective measure. In the Emotion Code treatment protocol, emotions are released, not through a talking-about-it type therapy (which I personally believe can strengthen and reinforce the neurologic pathways of these repressed experiences and emotions) but rather the emotional release treatment sends a signal to the unconscious mind (by stimulating acupuncture meridian points) to take a look at these experiences/emotions, put them in the proper context and by doing so release them. 

Imagine that in your subconscious mind is a long hallway with doors on each side. Behind every door is a trapped emotion.  The treatment (stimulating certain acupoints with the intent of releasing trapped emotions) metaphorically opens these doors.  As your spirit or subconscious looks through an open doorway, it may see that sock incident and the emotions and influences attached to it.  “Humph, I certainly don’t need to hang on to you any more!”, you say. And poof! That doorway and its contents vanish.  And so it goes door after door.  However, you may look into some of these subconscious doorways and say in essence “Oh My Goodness, I am not ready to deal with you, yet.” And Boom that door is closed.  As we eliminate the more trivial stuff and begin working on the issues of healing (inside and out) you will garner more strength to eventually eliminate even the toughest and most severe of emotional traumas.

Releasing trapped emotions can be compared to the repentance process.  If I wanted to straighten out my moral and spiritual life, I could schedule an appointment with my bishop, pastor or priest. To make sure I am thorough, I bring all of my journals so we can go through them page by page. Cause I don’t want to overlook one thing. “WAIT A MINUTE!!” this dear sweet spiritual leader says.  Repentance is not about examining every excruciating detail, but rather, Repentance is a Change of Heart. Repentance is not about changing behavior.  However, when the heart is changed, behavior always follows. And so it is with trapped emotions. We do not need to unearth and over turn each stone of our traumatic past. We must however set in our heart the desire to transform and become renewed with healing and a changed perspective on our life.  Repeated regurgitation of emotional events will only serve to reinforce them in the brain and nervous system just as water repeatedly coursing down the hillside will cut and erode deeper and more indelible channels or paths.  Certainly, past pain must be acknowledged and may need to be discussed to some extent at some point. But talk-about-it psychological therapy has been well proven to be largely ineffective.

In my Emotions and Angels manual, I discuss a more in-depth exercise to heal from past emotional trauma (See “The Examined Life” by Dr. Christensen).  This exercise can guide you through a process enabling you to change your perspective over past emotional traumas and by doing so diffuse the pain and release the binds allow you to truly heal.

Many of us have made the determination in our hearts that ‘I will not hold a grudge’. Yes, I know that I may get offended, but I will NOT hang on to that offense allowing it to fester and take hold. In each of our lives, there are those who perhaps deserve to have a grudge held against them. Their actions may have been so deliberate, offensive or evil that there is no way around the hurt and the harm that was inflicted. However, if we don’t decide to consciously take action to let it go, it can only fester and harm us further and deeper.  A well-known saying from Alcoholics Anonymous is to “Let Go and Let God”. This is what we must do. The Emotional Releasing techniques can help us to do just that.

In Chinese Medicine, there are three classifications of healing in health care (as taught by Shen Nong Ben Cao) They are referred to Lower Class, Middle Class and Upper Class.

Lower Class works on an illness or crisis level.  Modern Medicine operates at this level.  The use of drugs, surgery and physical therapy. Even chiropractic, acupuncture and even nutritional therapies can operate on this lower level when purposed to simply relieve pain or fix an acute problem.

The Middle Class operates from a preventative and nature cure perspective. Working to heal, promote and restore health with natural means and healthy lifestyle practices. 

The Upper Class operates from a spiritual perspective and “governs the nourishment of our Destiny as it corresponds to heaven … if one wishes to prolong years of life without aging”. Or in other words, life is purpose driven in harmony with directive given from spiritual sources. Healing is often spontaneous and miraculous accompanied with spiritual growth and experiences. Decisions are pursued because we feel guided or prompted by unseen spiritual sources.

In our Emotional World there are three levels, degree or classes in which we experience life.  These can also be categorized using the terminology of Telestial, Terrestrial and Celestial.  The lowest is the realm of negative emotions that are typified as the trapped negative emotions. Fear, Anger, Guilt, Grief, Sadness, Depression, Frustration, etc.

The next or middle class would be the positive emotions such as happy, nice, good, etc.

And finally, the highest class (where we should be striving) are the virtues. Charity, Kindness, Patience, Humility, Diligence, Temperance, Fidelity, Honesty, Wisdom, etc.

So how does this work and relate to our emotional healing.  Let’s take an example of someone was ‘mean’ to you. Or for that matter you have become ‘mean’ – perhaps in the form of being selfish or self-serving.  This of course is an emotion of the lower class and does not bring happiness.  If you were to elevate yourself to the next level, the emotion would be ‘nice’.  Which is definitely an improvement. However, often the positive emotions of this level can be used as forms of manipulation. “He was very ‘nice’ to me (when he wanted something).” In the highest level, the emotion is ‘kindness’. When I say “you are the kindest person I know”, that means your behavior is an extension of who you have become.  Your kind acts are not a tool of manipulation to get something that you want, but it is how you interpret and interact with life and others.

So, finally, here’s my point with all of this.  If we are to heal our emotional lives (which ties directly in with our spiritual and physical lives), there must be a transformation of sorts into the emotional realm of the virtues.  I do not believe you can be healthy or happy when you are stuck in the telestial level or lower class of negative trapped emotions where our subconscious is running the software of pride, envy, anger, laziness or entitlement, lust, greed or gluttony (ever wanting more). Unless you can transcend to higher realms of emotional integrity, I am afraid you will be stuck replaying a variety of negative emotions for perhaps a lifetime.

The truth as taught by Jesus the Messiah was that we must be ‘born again’, experience a mighty change or made into ‘new creatures’. We must put off the lower vibrational behaviors replacing them ultimately with virtue.  When I function at a level of the virtues (for me, it is often brief and fleeting), my perspective of past hurts transcends to one of peace, understanding and gratitude, even when dealing with base and negative things or people. I have been able to see how pain, unfairness and injustice has shaped, softened and elevated my soul. And it is through suffering (when I have turned to God), I have become a better and less self-absorbed person.

I know for many of you this is “Hard Doctrine” and may not make rational sense.  There is so much more to explain and discuss as we ruminate over why emotional suffering is necessary for our ultimate good.  However, it has become my understanding that the end objective of our pain is that we reach toward the heavenly attributes of the virtues. It is only then that suffering can be transformed to meaningfulness and the healing balm of divine perspective can turn even the deepest of raw wounds and festering scars into peace.  Speaking just for myself, this is hard. Very hard. Trying to become someone more than my weaknesses and natural inclinations to work and concerted effort. But perhaps, the subjugation and rising above my basest impulses and desires, which come so naturally to most of us, is to become who I truly am and to whom God intends me to become – ‘a new creature in Christ’. This I know, happiness and healing is most optimally achieved through transcendence and transformation, not in commiserating with other wounded souls in pity parties and trauma dramas.

May God bless us all as we strive for healing, understanding and peace on this spiritual-emotional journey we call life.  I challenge you to begin your earnest study and practice of the Godly Virtues. Identify someone who has virtuous attribute you would like to emulate and get to work.

Blessings,

Dr. Kyle Christensen

June 12, 2015