emotion

Compulsions

February 22, 2014

So much of our depression and anxiety occurs because of our constant compulsive behavior. We feel badly and our compulsions crop up to try to help neutralize our pain and help us feel better. It is like our bodies and brains instantly want to heal us, but since these compulsive behaviors have their genesis in our brokenness, they do not help. They only serve to produce more of the feelings we sought to neutralize in the first place and more unwanted behavior is produced. Compulsions could be defined as anything that is produced unthinkingly out of our guilt, fear, discomfort or pain. What’s amazing is that you can enact the same behavior and if you do it in thoughtfulness rather than compulsivity, it can be life-giving. The goal of the healing arts is enhancing our thoughtfulness about our pain. The thoughtfulness means we will again become present to the pain, but ignoring pain and relying on our compulsions will not help. The more we can do thoughtfully (and not compulsively), the more we will be able manage anxiety and emotion. The goal is that brokenness will be healed and we will be able to live out of our wholeness.

Your Emotional World

May 24, 2013

We should pay attention to our emotions. It is our emotions that are the barometer for where our hearts are and where we are going. These subtle inner shifts in our feeling system are what the Spirit uses to shape us and teach us. It is problematic that we are always trying to dull important emotions and in that way, render the work of the Spirit ineffective. Our pathology springs from our attempts to always dumb down, lock up and forget about the myriad emotions that have been given to us to ... Keep reading

I Am Too Serious

June 23, 2012

I think when we are always busy trying to be “contemplative” and get to a deeper level of prayer, we miss something. I think one of the truest forms of prayer is my daughter running through the grass at full speed, saying, “Look at me, Daddy!” She marvels at what her legs can do and is truly abandoned to the moment and the speed at which she carries her little body.

We can do a lot for our hearts by just being what we are. There is a gamut of emotions that I feel like I ... Keep reading