EMOTION

DEFINITION

Emotion: "Definable changes in body chemistry due to physical and/or mental stimulation."

Our full emotional repertoire must be accepted and understood.

No emotion is either good or bad. All emotions have a logical and rational cause and function and all emotions are definable, allowing us to name and catalogue them for future reference, and to understand and deal with them as they arise.

There is nothing WRONG with ANY emotion. All emotions are natural and serve a function. Problems may occur when emotions become neurotic: persistent, distorted, repressed, misunderstood, badly managed, and overwhelming for long periods of time, out of balance, and not relevant to the present experiences and situations.

A habitual repressive response to our emotions generally leads to a state of emotional dulling, flattening of feelings, reduced emotional repertoire, and eventually depression. This is because we are telling the mind to persistently stop our emotions and eventually this actually affects our nervous system so that is learns not to feel. Depression is very commonly an expression of this flattening of emotion. We can begin to overcome depression by understanding our emotions, to "face and embrace" all our emotions, knowing that they cannot harm us, unless we choose to harm ourselves. Our fear of our emotions leads to the construction of a psychological structure in our mind that "depresses" our emotions, which leads to psycho-emotional problems and, of course, the experiences of depression.

It must also be understood that there are many types of depression and some of the types are actually medical conditions; damaged or genetically inherited conditions of the nervous system. If you suffer from depression, think about how you manage your emotions and also consult your Doctor concerning it. Anti-depressants can begin to get our nervous sytem working better so that we can begin to effectively understand and deal with our problems. If you have suffered depression consistently for more than two weeks then it is time to consult your Doctor and also to review your life and the manner in which you manage your emotions. Most types of depression can be overcome or at least reduced by a course of anti-depressants, counselling, and becoming "emotionally knowledgeable."

When we understand our full emotional spectrum, then we can learn how to master them, applying that which is appropriate to the appropriate situation.

Emotions are experienced on a gradient of intensity (1 - 100%).

Sometimes our emotions can be linked to important life events and issues and it can take time to process them - to work them out of our system.

Most of our emotional responses are rooted in our social/emotional mammalian mind which has appeared through millions of years of evolution.

EMOTIONS AND THE SEVEN CHAKRAS

We can broadly catagorise our emotions to our seven chakras. Our heart chakra is the place where we experience "Higher Emotions" and attitudes; care, affection, kindness, considering others, empathy, compassion, selfless love. The other centers (particularly the three lower centers) have their own repective emotional repetoire.

When the heart chakra is not functioning properly then we experience a selfish emotional repetoire (the isolated lower self of egotism) because it is the heart chakra that introduces considering others and selflessness (higher emotions) into our personality and experience.

The mechanics of egotism are beautifully explained in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, book 2, sutra 3.

EMOTIONS AND HORMONES

Our lower emotions (the emotions of the three lower chakras) are often automatic and are controlled by hormones that are secreted from their respective glands, into the blood stream, and produce an immediate emotional response. For example, anger, fear, and the stress response are controlled by the adrenal glands. When we are startled, stressed, or frustrated then the adrenal glands secrete adrenal into the bloodstream and we have an immediate strong emotion of "fight or flight". That is why, if we become angry or are getting stressed, we should have a glass of water and do some relaxation breathing to calm the system down and help dilute and flush our the adrenal from our bloodstream.

We can learn to master our lower emotions by understanding them and learning how to apply the opposite attitude towards the emotion. For example, calm is the opposite of anger, wishing others well is the opposite hatred, and being pleased at the good fortune of others is the opposite of envy, jealousy, and covetousness.

We can also learn about how our diet influences our emotions. For example, alcohol stimulates our sexuality, this is why they say that alcohol "stokes the fires of lust". Caffeine and nicotine stimulates our adrenal glands and makes us more stressed and angry.

BECOMING AWARE OF OUR EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM

The bell shaped curve of statistical averages. Extreme negative on the left. Extreme positive on the right. If we act from any of the extremes then the consequences are likely to be negative. This is true for actions based upon our emotions.

Identify how we are feeling - what emotions we are experiencing.

Embrace all our emotions. Say 'hi' to all our emotions as they arise, familiarise yourself with them, embrace them all, and learn how to manage and express them appropriately.

Understand how emotions influence our behaviour.

Learn to manage our emotions.

Learn to control the intensity of our emotions.

Learn how to communicate our emotional experiences in appropriate, adult, and civilized ways.

We can categorize emotions into primary categories as follows:

Fear and security
Like and dislike
Desire and aversion
Happy and unhappy
Selfish and altruistic
Accepting and rejecting
Calm and upset
Appointment and disappointment
Extroverted and introverted
Doubt and certainty
Interested and tired/depressed
Social and unsocial
Pleasure and pain

These primary emotional types are constructed from a mixture of basic component emotions.

ACCEPTANCE

Calm
Weary
Tired
Apathy
Boredom
Cool
Comfort
Confident
Depressed
Disappointment
Empathy
Forgiveness
Gratitude
Peace
Patience
Relaxed

ANGER

Irritated
Annoyed
Frustration
Upset
Hurt
Misunderstood
Injustice
Revenge
Anxiety
Worry
Arousal
Bitter
Depressed
Disgust
Hate
Aversion
Jealousy
Envy
Fear
Despair
Indignation
Fury
Offended
Grief
Pain
Panic
Pride (egotistical)
Rage
Recklessness
Resentment
Sourness
Temper
Tension
Upset
Unhappy
Vulnerable
Worry

ANTI-SOCIAL

Ambivalence
Apathy
Bitter
Sour
Bored
Confused
Anger
Hate
Depressed
Aversion
Dread
Fear
Embarrassment
Envy
Greed
Jealous
Despair
Irritated
Lonely
Cruel
Narcissistic
Paranoia
Lust
Selfish
Pride (egotistical)
Resentment
Rejected
Rage
Reckless
Selfish
Stressed
Shy
Temper
Terror
Upset
Unhappy

AVERSION

Agitated
Annoyed
Frustrated
Upset
Anger
Hate
Anxiety
Dread
Apprehension
Bored
Confused
Fear
Depressed
Disgust
Distaste
Horror
Irritated
Negative
Pain
Panic
Phobia
Reject
Stress
Resentment
Shy
Sour
Suffering
Tension
Terror
Uncertain
Unhappy
Upset
Violent
Vulnerable
Worry

AWE

Amazement
Amusement
Aroused
Astonished
Discovery
Elation
Enthusiasm
Mystery
Gladness
Rapture
Surprise
Wonder

CALM

Certain
Comfort
Confident
Content
Cool
Patient
Peace
Peaceful
Pleasure
Relaxed
Relief

CONTEMPT

Agitated
Anger
Dislike
Annoyed
Anxiety
Jealous
Envy
Aversion
Bitter
Cruel
Disgust
Distaste
Fear
Hate
Insecure
Negative
Offended
Phobic
Rage
Resentment
Sour
Unhappy
Upset
Violent

CONTENTMENT

Calm
Comfort
Confident
Cool
Familiarity
Glad
Peaceful
Relaxed
Secure
Well-being

DEFENSIVE

Agitated
Annoyed
Anxiety
Apprehensive
Aroused
Aversion
Confused
Cross
Despair
Dislike
Embarrassment
Fear
Guilt
Hate
Hostility
Hurt
Insecure
Irritated
Nervous
Pain
Panic
Paranoia
Phobic
Pride (egotistical)
Stress
Temper
Tension
Trauma
Uncertain
Upset
Vulnerable
Worry

DEPRESSED

Apathy
Bored
Confusion
Despair
Disgust
Fatigued
Fear
Frustrated
Guilt
Hate
Hurt
Irritable
Jealous
Pessimistic
Rejection
Remorse
Shame
Shock
Sorrow
Stuck
Suffering
Tension
Tired
Too many problems
Unloved
Unloving
Vulnerability
Weariness
Worry

DESIRE

Agitated
Amused
Interested
Aroused
Curiosity
Enthusiasm
Excitement
Greed
Happiness
Hope
Like
Lust
Mystery
Narcissistic
Optimistic
Reckless
Selfish
Selfish
Tension
Wonder

DISAPPOINTMENT

Anger
Annoyed
Aversion
Bitter
Confused
Cross
Depressed
Despair
Despondent
Dislike
Frustrated
Hurt
Indignant
Negative
Offended
Pain
Pity
Rage
Regret
Rejection
Sadness
Shock
Sorrow
Sour
Stress
Tired
Traumatized
Unhappy
Upset
Weary
Worry

DISTRESSED/UPSET/WORRIED

Affinity
Agitated
Anger
Anguish
Annoyed
Anxiety
Apathy
Apprehension
Aversion
Bitter
Compassion
Cross
Defensive
Depressed
Despair
Despondent
Disappointed
Disturbed
Dread
Embarrassment
Empathy
Envy
Fear
Frustrated
Fury
Grief
Hate
Hostile
Insecure
Jealous
Misery
Negative
Nervous
Offended
Pain
Panic
Paranoia
Pity
Pride (egotistical)
Rage
Regret
Rejection
Remorse
Resentment
Sad
Shame
Sorrow
Sour
Stressed
Tension
Terror
Tired
Traumatized
Unhappy
Upset
Violent
Vulnerable
Weary
Worry

DOUBT

Agitated
Ambivalent
Annoyed
Anxiety
Confused
Depressed
Despondent
Disturbed
Fear
Hesitant
Insecure
Irritated
Miserable
Negative
Pain
Paranoid
Rejection
Remorse
Sorrow
Uncertain
Unhappy
Unsure
Upset

EXTROVERTED

Affinity
Amused
Aroused
Cheerful
Confident
Courage
Curiosity
Desire
Discovery
Elation
Empathy
Excitement
Familiarity
Friendly
Happiness
Hope
Joy
Kindness
Like
Motivated
Mystery
Optimistic
Patriotic
Pleasure
Pride (based on achievements)
Relaxed
Secure
Social
Togetherness
Well-being
Wonder

GRIEF

Affinity
Anger
Anguish
Annoyed
Anxiety
Apathy
Aversion
Bitter
Confused
Cross
Depressed
Despair
Despondent
Disappointment
Disturbed
Dread
Empathy
Fear
Frustrated
Guilt
Horror
Hurt
Insecure
Lonely
Loss
Misery
Negative
Pain
Panic
Regret
Remorse
Sadness
Shock
Sorrow
Stressed
Tired
Uncertain
Unhappy
Upset
Vulnerable
Weary
Worried

HAPPY

Amused
Calm
Certain
Cheerful
Comfortable
Confident
Content
Delight
Elation
Enthusiasm
Glad
Gratitude
Hope
Joy
Kindness
Love
Optimistic
Peaceful
Pride (achievement based)
Secure
Social
Well-being

HOSTILE/AGGRESSIVE

Agitated
Anger
Annoyed
Anxiety
Apprehensive
Aroused
Aversion
Confused
Cross
Cruel
Depressed
Despair
Disappointment
Dislike
Dread
Envy
Fear
Frustration
Fury
Greed
Hate
Horror
Hurt
Indignation
Irritated
Jealous
Lust
Offended
Pain
Panic
Paranoia
Patriotic
Phobic
Pride (egotistical)
Rage
Resentment
Selfish
Sour
Stressed
Suffering
Tension
Terror
Uncertain
Unhappy
Upset
Violent
Vulnerable
Worried

INTROVERTED

Aversion
Content
Dejected
Depressed
Fear
Happy
Humility
Lonely
Modesty
Nervous
Paranoid
Peaceful
Privacy
Wonder

IRRITATED

Agitated
Angry
Anguish
Annoyed
Anxiety
Aversion
Confused
Depressed
Disappointment
Doubt
Envy
Frustrated
Hate
Jealous
Offended
Pain
Stressed
Stressed
Tired
Uncertain
Weary
Worried

LONELY

Agitated
Anguish
Anxiety
Aversion
Confused
Dejected
Depressed
Despair
Despondent
Disappointment
Doubt
Dread
Fear
Frustrated
Hurt
Insecure
Pain
Panic
Rejected
Sad
Self-pity
Shy
Suffering
Tired
Unhappy
Vulnerable
Worried

LOVE

Affectionate
Affinity
Comfortable
Compassion
Content
Delight
Devotion
Empathy
Friendly
Glad
Happy
Joy
Kindness
Like
Patient
Togetherness
Well-being

OPTIMISTIC

Cheerful
Confident
Courage
Enthusiasm
Hope
Well-being

PASSIVE

Apathy
Bored
Calm
Comfortable
Content
Dejected
Depressed
Despair
Despondent
Patient
Relaxed
Relief
Timid
Tired
Uncertain

PESSIMISTIC

Agitated
Ambivalent
Anger
Anguish
Annoyed
Apathy
Aversion
Bitter
Bored
Cowardice
Dejected
Depressed
Despair
Despondent
Disappointment
Doubt
Dread
Fear
Frustration
Negative
Pain
Regret
Rejection
Resentment
Self-pity
Sour
Sour
Tired
Uncertain
Weary
Worried

REMORSE

Anger
Anguish
Bitter
Depressed
Guilt
Humility
Regret
Repentance
Sad
Shame
Sorrow
Sour

RESENTMENT

Anger
Anxiety
Depressed
Distressed
Hate
Hurt
Upset
Sour

SAD

Affinity
Compassion
Dejected
Depressed
Despair
Despondent
Disappointment
Empathy
Grief
Guilt
Hurt
Lonely
Regret
Remorse
Shame
Sorrow
Sympathy
Tired
Unhappy
Upset
Vulnerable
Worried

SELF-PITY

Analytical
Egotistical
Introverted
Narcissism
Self absorption
Self centered

Self pity

SOCIAL

Friendly
Warm
Like
Accommodating
Seeking company
Playful
Forgiving
Tolerant
Patient
Good humored
Affinity
Empathy
Compassion
Love
Communicative
Understanding

STRESSED

Agitated
Anger
Anguish
Anticipation
Anxiety
Apprehensive
Aversion
Courage
Cross
Depressed
Disappointment
Disturbed
Doubt
Dread
Embarrassment
Expectation
Fear
Frustrated
Fury
Grief
Misery
Negative
Offended
Pain
Panic
Phobic
Rage
Resentment
Shock
Suffering
Tension
Terror
Tired
Traumatized
Uncertain
Upset
Vulnerable
Weary
Worried

TIRED

Apathy
Aversion
Bored
Confused
Dejected
Depressed
Despair
Despondent
Disappointment
Doubt
Fatigue
Fear
Frustration
Grief
Hurt
Negative
Relaxed
Relief
Stressed
Suffering
Tension
Unhappy
Weary
Worry

unhappy

Depressed
Dysphoria
Regret
Remorse
Sad
Tired
Vice
Worried

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

All emotions are simply a feedback system that tells us about our relationship with the world. All emotions have a valid and useful function that is why we have them. To deny any of the full spectrum of emotional responses is to split your wholeness. All our feelings are giving us important feedback about the conditions in our lives and need to be respected and listened to.

There are three simple categories of human emotions.

1. Desire	-	Positive feelings towards circumstances we feel will bring happiness.
2. Aversion	-	Negative feelings towards circumstances we feel will bring unhappiness.
3. Neutral	-	Unattached, cool, calm, collected, emotionally controlled, emotionally uninvolved.

It is from these categories that all other emotions arise.

For example, the employee who feels fear (aversion) at facing their boss the next day.

The major problem with emotions is our lack of intelligent understanding and display, and cases of neurotic (irrational and unexplainable) emotional behavior; ie: unnatural, persistent, abnormal, repressed, unnecessarily extreme, unbalanced, and unnecessarily unreasonable (for example, race hatred and other prejudice).

"Emotional intelligence is realizing and acknowledging how we feel."

The repression of normal emotions leads to depression - literally to hold down.

Because most people are untrained in the skill of understanding emotions, we generally repress emotions which causes tension and anxiety (stress) throughout the human system. This tension and anxiety leads to all manner of manic/depressive complaints and emotional disorder that eventually result in discomfort and disease.

To be intelligent about our emotions means that we must learn to acknowledge how we feel. To begin with, this is like penetrating a dense dark cloud of confusion, but eventually with practice, we learn to tune into and understand our emotional behaviour. To do this, we must be completely honest about how we feel, accepting all those uncomfortable and so called "negative" emotions that many people have been taught to ignore.

Emotional intelligence means that we acknowledge every emotion in the full spectrum of human emotional behaviour, realizing that all things have a purpose. For example, the emotion of strong aversion that some people call "hatred" has a much a use as that of "love" - it informs us that we have a strong aversion to something and that we need to look into the matter.

It is preferable to completely acknowledge how we really feel. In this manner, our emotions will server us with important feedback about how we feel about our life. We have emotions for definite and logical reasons.

Don’t hide from your emotions – acknowledge them all and let yourself feel your response to your environment and the people in it. Don’t think that you shouldn’t think or feel certain ways towards certain people just because you have been told not to. Emotions serve us with important information about our interactivity with the world.

All emotions are simply a feedback system that tells us about our relationship with the world.

Each chakra has definite emotional issues and characteristics. For example, the base chakra deals with greed, survival insecurity and fear, and hording.

EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL.

A control mechanism. A person controls another person by creating a strong conditional (based upon the others behavior) atmosphere of “approval and disapproval.” For example; John is the controller and Jane is the controlled. When Jane does something that John doesn’t like he creates an atmosphere of disapproval that influences what Jane feels about showing that behavior in the future. Basically, John withholds his loving feelings when Jane does anything that offends his preferences. This no good. What John should do is to communicate his feelings of discomfort concerning Jane’s behavior and open up a discussion so that both sides can reach an agreeable middle ground.

Controlling people are bad communicators and don’t know how to discuss or negotiate with other people. They want their own way all the time and may have been spoiled as children where they discovered that they could exert power over their parents by adopting these social strategies.