Recently Dr. Oz devoted an entire show to emotional baggage (September 14, 2012). He tells us that emotional baggage can make you “fat, tired and sick.” Are emotions holding you back from your great health? Are emotions holding you back from living a great life?
What is emotional baggage
If emotions from your past are affecting your life and holding you back in any way, you have emotional baggage. Emotional baggage created in adulthood can come from divorce, job loss, death of a loved one, dysfunctional relationships, illness, and so on. These issues are usually easy to identify.
Baggage from childhood
As we grow up most of us seem to acquire emotional baggage. When we are young and we don’t have much experience of the world, even normal life events can leave us with limiting emotions. You have had these emotions for so long you don’t realize that this is excess baggage and not your true self. If you acquired these emotions at a very young age you may not have a memory of the event at all. Emotional baggage acquired before three or four may only have an emotional memory.
Dr.Oz’s program
Dr. Oz took fifty women to Miraval Spa in Tucson. He used a variety of methods including an obstacle course, walking, yoga, and meditation. Dr. Oz and coach Valorie Burton focused on helping the participants 1) picture their problems, 2) recognize the baggage, 3) validate the baggage, and 4) repack the baggage so it no longer hurts.
These are all good methods to release emotional baggage. I recommend that everyone learns multiple self help methods. You can put these in your self help tool box. Remember the old saying – if you only have a hammer everything looks like a nail. You need the right method for each problem.
Stop creating baggage now
Everyone can develop tools that prevent new baggage from being created. Easy methods include walking, yoga, meditation and having trusted people to talk to. Just make sure that your confidants help you release baggage and don’t fuel the fire.
How to reclaim your true emotions
If Dr. Oz is not on your healing team and you can’t make it to Tucson, you have options. Remember self help is all about choice – what works for you – and using the right method for the problem. If you have issues from early childhood, you can reclaim your true emotions. With this method you do not need to remember any painful events from the past. You can release painful emotions even if you have no memory of the cause.
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How will your life improve when you finally let go of your emotional baggage?
(Image: geishaboy500 @Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/geishaboy500/2579826661/)
