What exactly is an emotion?
They say we are made of flesh and blood, and dust... but we are more than 60% water. Certainly, we are Homo Sapiens (thinking, wise man), but we are mainly emotional beings, given our biological, chemical composition. It would therefore have been more appropriate for our species to be called Homo Motius (emotional man) instead of Homo Sapiens, or Homo Sapiens Motius, which is perhaps a new stage in human evolution.
Neuroscience teaches us that we feel before we think. Emotions are at the very heart of our lives; they have accompanied the evolution of human beings. It is thanks to them that he survived, that he was able to develop because they are reactions allowing him to adapt to the events of daily life whatever they may be, and also to transform in the long term. . Emotional experiences are in fact learning about oneself and about relationships with others. Knowing how to recognize them, name them, understand them means regaining our power over them instead of sometimes letting them “carry us away”, or trying to push them back into a corner of our unconscious.
Why are emotions connected to water?
Because we cry when we are sad, or when we are in pain... but also when we laugh. We can feel very hot and sweaty under intense emotion, or feel frozen and paralyzed by fear. Our emotional state is like water that moves within us, which modifies and can take several different states in its manifestation depending on what we are experiencing. It’s a bit like our indoor weather.
Our emotional state can resemble the calm water of a beautiful lake when we are serene, or a rough sea when we are disturbed, or even a tsunami breaking on the horizon when we can no longer hold back our emotions... Or it can bubble up like a pressure cooker with the lid desperately tightened all the way, and then burst out of control! Like the magma of a volcano which suddenly awakens when we thought it was extinct, a sign of intense anger due to repressing in our unconscious everything that we do not want (or cannot) see or express.
An emotion causes an interior movement, it makes things move inside, and sometimes it will also bring about an exterior movement that we will express if it is positive, and that we will try to retain, control if it is negative… and sometimes we even “freeze” everything so as not to feel the possible consequences.
The origin and consequences of emotions
Emotion comes from the Latin “motere” which means “to move”, and from the prefix “é” which indicates a movement from the inside to the outside, therefore a tendency to act concretely. This is where the word “motor” also comes from. Emotions are therefore by definition energies that push us to act, to get moving; they will give us an impulse, motivate us.
That's when everything is going well, because if so-called "positive" emotions can put us into action with great energy, there are also "negative" emotions which can, for example, make us act impulsively, reactively and not always very fair... Or even slow us down, to the point of blocking us in our manifestation.
A person always reacts in a way determined by their emotional state. Thus, despite the universality of an emotion, its expression will vary according to each individual. It’s normal, we don’t all have the same story, the same emotional experiences. Emotion is therefore associated with personality and especially with memories recorded in the unconscious of each person.
Emotions are spontaneous reactions to a given situation.
They can lead to temporary physical (paleness, blushing, agitation, increased heart rate and respiratory rate, sweating, etc.) and psychological (thoughts, change of mood, etc.) symptoms. Joy, surprise, fear, anger are examples.
Feelings
Feelings represent a more enduring emotional state that evolves over time. Thus feelings (like love, hatred, trust, distrust, gratitude, etc.) are born, grow and sometimes can also change, or even end up disappearing.
Although they are different, emotions and feelings are closely linked. Feelings give rise to all kinds of emotions and, conversely, emotions can generate feelings. For example, a feeling of joy can spontaneously generate tears (emotion). If a child was afraid (emotion) when the neighbor's dog barked loudly at him, he could subsequently develop a feeling of fear at the mere sight of a dog. This feeling could persist over time, or just as easily change or even disappear depending on the child's development.
It is therefore important to understand the emotions we feel before moving, because this is how our personality will be expressed and also developed. We grew up, evolved in a sort of emotional “bath” with our parents, those around us, at school, etc. and this will color our everyday life, both positively and negatively.
What to do with our emotions?
Our emotions and their level of expression come from our different learning, experiences and emotional experiences that we have recorded deeply within us. We must study them to know how to identify them, name them and go back to the memories of their origin to be able to transform and reprogram those that we no longer wish to manifest.
This involves an inner worker to transform the unconscious memories, the resonances that cause us to experience this or that situation in our life, and therefore experience emotions related to these experiences.
It’s a whole inner re-education to live our emotions well and no longer be afraid of them, to manifest this great potential, this great force of inspiring motivation which moves us forward on all levels.
