What you get from negative emotions

Jotting out a quick one after coming across something this morning.

Nothing happens that isn’t useful. We feel things because it is useful to feel them.

I’m utterly convinced of that even in the low places where I’d really rather not be.

I’ve also been more focused on sort of a condescending attitude towards these negative periods -

“Oh, there’s something that needs my attention. It thinks it knows what’s best for me, even if it’s completely crossed with my greater goals, but investigation will reveal the wound that’s driving my behavior and how I’m feeling right now so it can be resolved.”

As I’m typing that, I do still really stand behind it.

In inner child work there is true attention paid where we curiously seek information from our past selves in a real way (some may be more comfortable thinking of it as psychic, but anybody can do this - take from that what you will) and slowly guide the rest of our inner conflict into real, felt understanding.

But let’s also add some nuance. Some thinking into the wisdom of the actions we’re driven to by our feelings in flesh and blood, not just psychic moorings.

Emotions solve problems.

Chesterton’s Fence comes to mind - the idea that when you come across a fence in a field, you’re not allowed to remove it until you can explain why it’s there in the first place.

Humans deem things unnecessary all of the time - spleens, kidneys, tonsils, uteruses, feelings - rather than elevating them to at least the solid foundations of “we don’t know all of the reasons why and never will”. There is always going to be a mystery to existence, and I think we need it that way.

At the neuroscience symposium the other weekend I wondered what it would be like to ask the crowd of researchers what drove them so deeply into the need to know “why” and “how” in a way that is understood only to the Western mind, as countless explanations have already been offered by traditions with thousands of years of history and a willingness to believe in metaphor and that the things that exist beyond our noses might also be real. I don’t think I would have found fault in all of them, but at least some of them would have been driven by wounding to their obsession.

Here’s some of the positives contained in negative emotion:

Anger - activation, gets you moving, fires you up to break free of things that truly aren’t working for you. Increases space to help you reach escape velocity between you and things you are tempted to go back to. The desire to physically express outwardly could be an invitation to increase your strength and use your body and come to a more complete understanding of your abilities while increasing them.

Depression - the need to slow down and process things. A physiological way to force you to do that but also just a normal part of the process of life. When someone only lifts weights they tend to get injured past a certain point without rest. You have a stimulus and then the need to absorb the stimulus into the system. Stimuli can pile up until a big processing is needed. All of the pieces of the pie depression includes - self-isolation, sluggishness, sleep, quiet, etc - help enable these processes.

What else do people dislike to feel?

Anxiety can fall into some of the same categories of definition as both of these, but I also offer this post from my friends at Physiology First, who are on an absolute laser-guided mission to educate the youth of today about their bodies and the physiological foundation of their mental health. Tap on it to scroll through the slides.

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Physiology First on Instagram: “Education works🧠🔥 The alternative, a lifetime of medication to manage a natural response of the body we’ve never been taught to interpret, navigate, or train to master is not only a suboptimal alternative, it’s an inevitable drug addiction crisis for our kids 💊 ~
There has been a threefold increase in Benzodiazepine use among teens in the past decade. I in 10 American adolescents had taken a benzodiazepine at this point. Yale Medicine calls benzodiazepine addiction “the next opioid level drug crisis.”
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“Of special relevance, benzodiazepine dependence may be so severe that quitting “cold turkey” can be fatal.” ~ Teensavers Treatment Centers
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“There are two things that will kill you when you try to get off of them. Alcohol and benzodiazepines.” ~ Dr. Carl Hart, Columbia University
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“Benzodiazepine use may be associated with a higher risk of suicide.” ~ Association between benzodiazepines and suicide risk: a matched case-control study, BMC Psychiatry ~
As diagnoses of “anxiety disorders” prepare to skyrocket due to practitioners assessing 21st century through a 20th century lens, parents and teens are turning toward health, fitness, and educational professionals to provide data-based health education before medication, and life skills before pills.
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Every century has its defining battles.
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History shaping fights call leaders to their potential.
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The pathologization of kids by millions of “mental health practitioners” with no background in physiology is creating a preventable drug addiction epidemic in our communities.
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We are looking for leaders in health, fitness, and education to teach kids and communities about their physiology, first🧠📚🔥 Join a growing global movement of health and fitness leaders this September and be part of a revolution in health education. DM to join our Physiology First Certification Program🌎 ~
We see the results every day at our campus.
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Confidence, agency, empowerment, self leadership, and a desire to teach others (youth and parents alike) how to unlock the power of the body, brain, and mind.
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It’s time for a new conversation on health and human potential that teaches physiology, first. #physiologyfirst”

August 28, 2023

Maggie is whining to go out and I need to get ready for work, so I’ll end my editing and writing here. Enjoy the chew on these ideas.