Emotional Stress Loops

“When we deny our emotion it owns us .” - Brené Brown

What does it mean to close an emotional stress loop?

In a world and society where any other emotions besides happy and joyful are given a negative connotation, it can be extremely challenging to allow yourself to feel the full range of your emotions without any judgment or guilt.

Many of us were taught to hide our big emotions. Even that expression, big emotions, gives the idea that they’re too much for the world. We were told to move away when crying, to get it together, to dust ourselves off and be strong. 

There is strength in emotion. There is strength in saying something is too much or we need a minute to release before we can move on. Knowing this and embodying space to feel is so powerful, but what about everything from before.

Your sacral chakra is where emotion is processed, but because of the way our society values work over play, many adults have a blocked sacral.

Unfinished emotions stay in the body.

We know that unprocessed emotions are stored in the body. If you want to know more about this The Body Keeps Score by Bessel van der Kolkata, M.D. dives deep into the research and data on this. Getting stored emotions out is important for our healing. In order to feel grounded in our bodies and to be able to reprogram and rewire our brain to not continue to create the same patterns over and over again we have to get out of the loops playing the emotion again and again. Emotions that are stored and cause our nervous system to react in fight, flight, freeze or fawn because of a memory reaction to something occurring now are called emotional stress loops. No matter what is happening our bodies feel as if we keep going back to a stressful moment that we couldn’t process. In order to move on and through we have to finish the loop. By closing emotional stress loops, we finish processing the emotion so that it will be completed as it was not allowed to before.

We close the emotion by allowing ourselves to feel it. These are the most effective ways to feel and close the emotional loops:

• Movement- dancing, shaking, jumping, hip circles, somatic release, etc 

• Laugh

• Cry

• Orgasm 

Awareness

When you recognize you’re stuck in an emotional stress loop, the first thing is to be aware and then to talk to that part of yourself. Here is an example:

I hear my inner voice telling me that I’m not working hard enough, that I’m lazy, which then sends me in a downward spiral of freezing (as a nervous system response) because I don’t know what to do that will be good enough so I do nothing, believes that story.

To Close the Loop

• TO CLOSE THE LOOP: I recognize that at some point, probably as a child, I was made to feel that my value was tied up in my productivity, instead of talking down to that part I stop and love on it. 

  • Say, “Hi little part of me that feels not good enough. I want you to know that you are loved and valued just as you are. I see you and respect you. You can relax because I’m an adult now and I am able to take care of us.”

  • Place your hand where you feel the emotion on the body that may have surface by you saying this.

  • Breath into it. Be with it. Repeat that phrase or any other that is supportive and kind as you’re breathing.

  • Now let the emotion move, you may have begun crying or laughing on your own. Allow that to happen, don’t push it away.

  • You can also move dancing or shaking it out. This could even look like you hugging yourself and rocking back and forth, very comforting.

  • Alternatively you can have an orgamsm, self pleasure or otherwise. An orgasm is especially effective when you’re on a negative loop about your body and image.

  • After the loop closing activity, take some gentle nervous system movements, like havening or a soft twist or feet planted firmly into the ground and say an affirmation to support a new belief. In this example,”I am safe to rest and I allow work to be fun and creative.”

  • Notice how your body feels as you’re saying these affirmations after closing the emotional loop.

Remember

In order to have more joy, pleasure and fun we need to honor past emotional loops that keep us stuck in the same responses. None of this is ever meant for you to move quickly past an emotion. It’s meant to help support you through it. Know that it might take a few times to move emotional loops through and that’s ok. There is no timeline. Be gentle with yourself.

Breathwork is a great emotional loop closing practice.

Certain types of breathwork can help to pull out old emotions which then allow old loops to close. Wether you go for an individual session or a meet me at Vibe Yoga for a monthly group breathwork circle

Cleansing Breathwork from my Root to Rise Program

Thanks for being you and bringing your uniqueness into the world.

Hugs,

Kristin

P.S. Want to find our how to help your individual energy? Book a healing session or coaching consult call here.