A prevailing belief system which has been on the planet for millennia is that emotional vulnerability — crying in particular — represents a weakness or character flaw. Particularly for men, if you dare open yourself up to being authentic in your emotions, the pervading ideology is you lack dominion, resilience and mettle.

This couldn’t be further from the truth, however. In fact, it’s a trap and a ruse, which prevents you from using one of the most valuable tools you have.

Disconnection from and suppression of your emotions cuts you off from wisdom and higher knowledge, stymies your creativity, and fosters vulnerability.

In truth, emotional authenticity represents a state of deep awareness, mental sovereignty, and sheer grit.

• Awareness: When you make the choice to acknowledge your emotions, you are giving a nod to communication from your inner being. Emotion is just information — an inner guidance system from the higher mind — to facilitate your life’s journey. Being privy to the information is essential for your own clarity and guidance. Without it, you’re flying without a GPS.
• Sovereignty: When you suppress or don’t give credence to your emotional guidance system, you are shutting down a flow of information which without recognition will create disease and relinquish your dominion and self-determination. On the other hand, if you allow the information in, process and integrate it, you are in the driver’s seat of your life and creations. Emotions are fundamental building blocks in the structure of reality. You must know what yours are — and then become proactive in choosing them — to be the boss.
• Courage: It wasn’t long ago that I thought crying was for wussies. I’m not kidding. I did everything I could to shut down my emotions and loathed the idea of crying. And boy did that backfire on me. Now I see emotion through an entirely different lens. I recognize the lion-hearted strength it requires to make yourself aware of your emotions — to acknowledge, process and integrate them— and then be bold enough to choose the emotions you prefer. Why? Because becoming the creator of your experience is just about one of the most audacious qualities known to man.

Our bodies are energetic ecosystems which must be maintained and cleared of emotional debris.

And, there is a simple process involved with this which fosters emotional authenticity while offering the added benefit of maintaining a clear, homeostatic energetic state of being.

So, now that you have a better understanding of the power behind reacquainting yourself with your emotions — which is essentially reconnecting with the language of the heart — let’s speak about the basic steps of this process. It involves acknowledgement, integration and choice.

Emotions must be acknowledged.

This is vitally important when it comes to negative emotions, because these are the ones when not heeded, which first impair your ability to be a creator and eventually embed in your tissues and create disease.

Anger, resentment, and hatred — for example — when ignored—can lead to cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Not as a punishment, but because the emotion — or the message — is not being received on a conscious level, leaving the body riddled with stagnant, dense energy.

In fact, the biological process of crying clears belief systems which no longer support you on your path.

Tears are a magic elixir. Let them flow and you will grow.

Crying, triggers a chemical reaction in the body — which releases emotional baggage and beliefs which you have outgrown — to make space for a new more expanded perspective of yourself and the world. It’s a housecleaning of sorts and crucial in your emotional growth and transformation.

Emotions must be integrated.

The next step in what is essentially an ongoing practice is to integrate the emotions you have acknowledged.

Which is to say, once you are aware that they exist, then you have the opportunity to see the feeling, belief and experience which triggered them from a higher perspective.

It helps to reinforce to yourself that emotions are simply packets of information which serve as signposts to guide you, and are meant to be acknowledged and released, rather than carried around like backpack of boulders.

Emotions can then be chosen and you become sovereign to yourself and your experience.

Ah yes. This is where the magic happens. When you are proactively gaining awareness and letting go of old beliefs and emotions, you are building an extraordinary foundation for new creations of your choosing. You have cleared out the debris, made space for expansion and shown yourself that you are the chooser of your emotions and the creator of your experience.

Tool for Personal Transformation:

Emotion: Acknowledge, Integrate, Choose

Become Sovereign

Acknowledge: Practice getting in touch with your emotions again. Make yourself aware of what they are, so you can process what they are telling you about yourself and your experience. Integrate: Feel anything you have been avoiding so that you can integrate and move forward. Cry, as and when you feel compelled to do so. This is merely a natural, biological mechanism the body uses to let go of what no longer supports its journey. Recognize that all experience is happening for you and not to you. Choose: Use the emotions for your own expansion. Choose new emotions for your intended creations. And, no matter what, maintain this relationship with your feelings — with your heart — as a sacred aspect of your ability to create — to be sovereign.

Because this is who and what you are.