How important are emotions?

Our emotions are an important and intentional part of being human. They are part of our nervous system expression. They give us vital information about our surroundings, the environmental influences around us and the nature of our relationships. Emotions are markers of what we are internally processing from our environment and how we are being received in the world around us. 

Unfortunately, in the modern world, we have very often been taught to repress or ignore our emotions rather than process them and seek to understand their meaning. When we oppress (block) or repress (push away or quieten) our emotions, we lose vital information from our environment and can be led astray. 

We are often taught either intentionally or due to family or institutional conditioning to ignore how we feel. Powerful emotions such as anger, sadness, grief or even joy and excitement are often unwelcome when we are in controlled environments. But humans did not evolve in conditions such as we are used to today.

We evolved to take in huge amounts of information from varying and ever-changing environments and our emotions were vital in navigating that complex and often scary world. Emotions became unacceptable as we were moved to workplaces, churches and schools where we were expected to behave in a certain, more acceptable way.

To achieve this parents, teachers, and bosses learned to control us, often through fear of punishment or removal of affection and approval, leaving us vulnerable to social exclusion. Many of us, through several generations of this conditioning, learned to suppress how we feel.

Emotions are a form of energy, and energy can not be destroyed, only changed. If we learn to process and understand our emotions, we can express, release and transmute the information we are receiving. 

When we repress rather than express this process naturally, the energy of our emotions can become trapped in our bodies. We can cut ourselves off from our natural processes for healing and release. This trapped energy can begin to affect us in other ways. 

Emotions can spill out in inappropriate ways or circumstances as adults. They can cause stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health distress.  Emotions can even begin to cause unhealthy patterns of behaviour to cope with them, like addictions or even lead to physical symptoms and pain.

To avoid this from happening or to release the trapped emotional energy, we need to learn to express our emotions in a healthy way. Emotions such as anger, fear or anxiety, for example, can help us identify where our boundaries are being crossed and where we don't feel safe. Joy, happiness and excitement can show us what we do enjoy, want to experience more of or what we are drawn towards. Deeper, longer-lasting emotional experiences, such as grief or depression, can show us what we care about and what is or is not important to us.

Each person's emotions have a different and unique meaning to them. Learning to explore our individual emotional world is how we decode our emotions and use them to help us in life.

Emotional language is not necessarily a logical, rational language. It is energetic in nature and perhaps more aligned with a spiritual aspect of humanity.

We can learn to process our emotions through words when speaking or writing. But emotional energy is often more aligned as a felt language. It requires a different form of expression to process and understand them.

This is where art was born, as humans try to better express the complex world of feeling and sensory experiences we have. Through artistic expression, for example, by making sounds like when singing or playing instruments or using our body through dance, stretching or shaking or perhaps through role-playing and acting, we can process, understand and express emotional experiences.

This language can help us to express the depth of human experience. Tap into a deeper, subconscious part of ourselves. Connect others in a spiritual and sensory way. When we do this, we build connections with ourselves, others and our environment in an innately satisfying way. It is more fulfilling to the spiritual, energetic nature of humanity.

Often, this is what has been lost from our contained modern lives. As children, we are given more freedom and understanding to express ourselves in this way, but the need for emotional expression never leaves us as we grow. Even as adults, we need this tactile form of self-expression to learn, grow and heal.

This is where the spiritual movements of ritual expression and art always have a vital role in human society. This form of communication bonds us to each other and helps to unify our collective human experience. We can all find our own way to process our emotions that helps us to connect with the messages our body wants us to receive and then adjust and respond accordingly to navigate our way through life. Without emotions controlling or limiting our lives.

Additional Support

If you would like to improve your emotional intelligence and practice separating your thoughts from feelings and understand what causes us to respond to the external world, download our free I Think, I Feel, I Observe PDF!

This simple guide helps you to identify and differentiate our thoughts from our feelings and connect them to the external stimulus that cuase dour repsones. It is really helpful as an early stage process of self-awareness and developing emotional intelligence.

If you have struggled with emotional expression or intelligence, and have found yourself feeling stuck or unsure about your communication and expression with others, Love School is hosting a range of experiences and a course (as part of our Mama Bear Mentorship programme), Emotional Expression & Regulation.

The six-week course combines not only our sensory expression of body, mind and spirit but also develops our artistic and Non-Violent Communication skills to learn how to express verbally without adding blame or conflict as part of our interactions with others.

This small group programme includes working together and alone with one-to-one support to explore how to express emotions in a healthy, controlled manner, finding confidence and peace to allow us to be more honest with others and energetically engaged with our lives. 

Find out more by following the link below.

To access the course and work through the content alone, use the Emotional Expression & Regulation Course.

Often underdeveloped emotional intelligence can be caused by emotional neglect or rooted in our childhood experiences. Our at-home courses Inner Child Healing & Reparenting, can be incredibly helpful as part of your recovery and development when learning and understanding emotional intelligence.

Prefer Video Content?

Watch this video where Terri explains why emotional processing is so important right now.