Working with "old emotions"

[Agua del Cielo]

As most probably know, i am a big fan of the "consciously emotional" approach.
I somehow felt the need to explain it a little bit more.

I sincerely apologize if you are aware of all of this, i write it for that person that might have difficulties.
Obviously this is only a simplified short version, i hope it's still understandable.

I'll start with stating this is my opinion based on my inner work experiences (so i don't have to put it before each statement).


The Framework

Catalyst will usually cause emotions to arise.
Many times, catalyst not only causes new emotions but also triggers old emotions.
For example, someone tried to kill you when you were 3 years old and stabbed you with a knife.
You were not capable of processing all emotions involved, so they get dissociated (meaning you seperate from them and forget about them) and "stored", and you will have to process these at a later point in time.
If you know face someone with a knife in your adult life, you will not only have the normal emotional reaction that everybody would have. Additionally (due to the similarity of catalyst) These old and still unprocessed emotions will be triggered.

An emotion is "now"
One difficulty in realizing this is, that an emotion is always now.
That means, if you re-experience fear of death for example, you experience it NOW.
There is no emotion "i feel like i was afraid of dying yesterday".
That is a thought and an abstraction, it is not now.
When "old" fear of death arises, it feels like dying NOW, you would completely believe it, you would interprete Body Signals that way and all outer signals in that situation.
This is why it is so hard to seperate old emotions from new ones.

It always feels like it's happening RIGHT NOW.

How can i tell it apart
Well, you cant, at least not for sure.
There are a few factor that can help though.

-the emotions are very very intense, much more than usual
This often indicates old emotions have been triggered

-the emotional response is out of relation to the current situation
The trigger seems to be minor, but the emotional response is quite intense

-the emotional response has "absolute" colors
for example, a rather minor disagrement in a relationship suddenly makes one think about ending an otherwise good relationship

How can i work with this?And what are the benefits?
I found the only useful approach so far, to just experience it, with als much awareness as possible.
Not thinking about it, just staying as present als possible with the emotion.


Actually, there are three ways to respond to an emotion.

-you can choose to ignore,deny or suppress it
This will seperate you from your Self, robbing you of the opportunity to get to know yourself, to discover your deeper inner being
-you can engage in thinking or "thought circles"
while the advantage here is, that thinking seperates you a Little from the emotions (so they arent als intense anymore), the problem would be, that instead of releasing the Energy, the emotional charge, you actually invest more energy (by negative thinking) into the issue, making it even worse each Time you do this.
-you can stay as present as possible with the emotion (and exclusively the emotion), dont engage in negative thought, the best would be no thought at all, like in a meditative state.
This releases the energetical charge of the emotion connected with the issue.
Each issue has only a finite emotional charge to it, if you consciously release it, it gets less and less, until there is no more old pain.

Another benefit is:
These mechanisms play out if we acknowledge them or nor. I we dont deal with These emotions, we arme actually a Slave to them.
They make us react in set and fixed ways, leaving us no Choice at all.
When we are aware of them, this is the only thing that puts us in a position where we actually have a choice.
We can then consciously feel the emotion, not bound to act out our automatic programs, but free to chose how we want to react!

The spiritual benefit of this
Another benefit is, you get to know yourself more and more, each time you do this, you get closer to your inner being, the light that you are.
We come into this life as loving light beings. Painful experiences made us close door by door, shading that light more and more.

Each of these doors is connected to a painful experience.
It is simply impossible to it without connecting with the pain, that caused us to close it.
On the other hand, each time we consciously experience it, were removing one obstacle, open one Little door.
And by doing this we get closer and closer to realizing our true self!

Another factor which is important to mention:

The emotional charge wie experience will get stronger and stronger. We practice "holding" that energy more and more.
And we in a way "change" our physical as well aus our finer energy bodies, so they can carry more and more energy.

And this is absolutely prerequisite for meeting the inner self.
without practice and preparation, the inner self just cannot ne experienced.
The energy would be much too high for our body and energetic system.
It is possible, to experience the "inner self" in a non-physical state, for example using substances and being in a state with Little or no physical connection; not very likely, but possible.

But not in a "normal" physical state, like everyday life. you just wouldnt be able to hold that Energy.
So one could eat a few mushrooms, have a nice experience, but lose it almost completely afterwards.
Not so nice :/"