It can be said that we live in a rather emotionally handicapped world. While we’ve adapted to accommodate many of our physical and mental limitations, we’re still a bit in the dark about our emotions.
Perhaps it's because many of us have not been taught how to regulate and process our emotional signals very well, and so we may become confused, uncomfortable or even threatened when faced with our own feelings and those of others. All too often, we distance, distract, or numb ourselves from our internal reality and have socially sanctioned frameworks for fleeing our discomfort instead of paying attention to the cues.
Our society is no stranger to addiction and many of us use a version of this maladapted coping mechanism at some point or other. Our addiction of choice may be food, drugs, tobacco, alcohol, exercise, hoarding, cutting, workaholism, tv, shopping, gambling, video games, social media, porn, sex, power, codependent relationships….
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We may even be addicted to a specific ‘cover’ emotion as an automatic response when under stress, going into anger, anxiety, depression, or denial, so as to keep from feeling a more 'off-limits' emotion (shame, rage, helplessness....)
3. EMOTIONAL ENERGY
by Katarzyna Vedah. May 5, 2018
Or we may subconsciously be addicted to suffering after growing up around people who were threatened by our well-being in some way. In an attempt to divert the possibility of future disconnection, disapproval, or oncoming disaster, we end up sabotaging our own sense of happiness.
If we found ourselves in survival situations that left us helpless to defend ourselves or to escape, temporarily suppressing our emotional capacity by numbing out or dissociating could have saved us. But it was never meant to be a long-term coping mechanism. If we suppress our precious bio-chemical guidance and information system that we call Emotion over the long-term, we can quite literally jeopardize our own lives.
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As babies, if our cries go unheard or are ignored for too long, we may stop calling out. But just because we’re not screaming, doesn’t mean we’re not in pain. When we don’t hear or listen to our emotions (our own inner cries), the energy doesn’t just disappear or get swept under some psychic carpet.
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We may deny our inner conflict, our fear, or anger, and become numb to the pain, but often at the expense of feeling much of anything else. And eventually, we may find that this suppressed energy comes out anyway, usually in unconscious or destructive ways, and can manifest through our bodies as physical pain and illness.
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As creative humans, let’s reclaim our emotional reality and feeling-states and live more fully as we learn to express ourselves in more conscious and life-affirming ways.
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RESOURCES:
VIDEO: (YouTube)
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On Being Out of Touch With One's Feelings (School of Life)
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Why you Feel what you Feel - Alan Watkins (TED Talk)
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Danielle LaPorte – The Desire Map Daily (Audio Excerpt)
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MORE / VIDEO: (YouTube) - TED Talk
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Stop Sabotaging Yourself - Debi Silber
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The Power of Addiction and Addiction to Power - Dr. Gabor Maté
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RIPPLE EFFECT
PASSION PROJECTS FROM THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY

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LIGHT & DARK
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FILM (YouTube): Trailer
Equals (Drake Doremus)
Little Joe (Jessica Hausner)
Greener Grass (DeBoer & Luebbe)
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VIDEO / PROJECTION MAPPING (Vimeo):
The Story Box (A DandyPunk)
Paper Architect (Davy & Kristin McGuire)
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WEBSITE: Davy & Kristin McGuire
MUSIC / VIDEO: (YouTube)
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Nothing Compares 2U - Sinéad O’Connor
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New Great Depression - Moth & the Flame
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Berlin, It's All A Mess - IO Echo
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Shanghai Girls - IO Echo
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HEALTHY M.O.
PSYCHO-EMOTIONAL BALANCE
VIDEO: (YouTube)
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Feelings: Handle Them Before They Handle You - Mandy Saligari (TED Talk)
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Marshall Rosenberg: Depression
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EMOTIONAL NEGLECT & ABUSE:
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How to Overcome Childhood Emotional Neglect – Kati Morton
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5 Must Know Signs of Emotional Abuse – Kati Morton
HEALING LEARNED HELPLESSNESS:
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VIDEO: (YouTube)
What is Learned Helplessness?
Narcissists Teach Learned Helplessness
5 Overwhelming Symptoms of C-PTSD
RECOVERY: ALTERNATIVES TO THE 12 STEPS
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Having a Relapse? - Teal Swan (YouTube)
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ARTICLE: ‘Evolving Beyond 12-Steps’ –
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GROUNDING,
REGULATION
& PROCESSING
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VIDEOS: (YouTube) - Emotion Dynamics
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Grounding Yourself
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Emotion Regulation is the Key to Healthy Empathy
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Burning Contracts Can Help You Know Who You Are
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Intense Emotions and the Healing of Trauma
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WEBSITE:
The Emotion Dynamics Foundation https://emotiondynamics.org/
‘COVER or BYPASS’ EMOTIONS:
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Meditations by Crisis Response Type -
By Laura Day
VIDEO: (YouTube)
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BOOK:
Welcome to Your Crisis. By Laura Day
SHIFT GEARS
CHANGING THE TEMPLATE

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EMOTIONAL CONDITIONING,
PAIN & THE BODY
EMOTIONAL CONDITIONING:
VIDEOS: (YouTube) - Teal Swan
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How to Feel Your Emotions -
What To Do if you Can’t Feel Your Emotions
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How to Overcome SHAME
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When Happiness is a BAD Thing
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EMOTIONS THROUGH THE BODY:
VIDEO: (YouTube)
Dr Masaru Emoto's Water Experiment - Words are Alive!
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How To Find The Root Cause of Your Illness/Ailment – Teal Swan
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WEBSITE:
Causes of Physical Symptoms
According to Louise Hay
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