Doctor C J's Blog

               Last blog we discussed the seven steps to finding emotional freedom(EF). Today we will dig deeper into what is blinding your path to emotional freedom.  Are you tired of ‘how to’ steps? I know I am, but I also know that we can only take life’s path step by step.

Emotional freedom: simply means, the choice to forgive and release self and others from the pain that binds you.  You control your emotions instead of them controlling you. How does this happen? Self-awareness.

1.  Awareness: conscious, informed, and cognizant. Do you think  we can change anything without awareness  of what is? I do not, so this has to be our starting point.  

Self-awareness = consciously informed and cognizant of who you are spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically (SEMP) – your lens of understanding –likes and dislikes – craves and repulsions – wants and don’t wants; you get the idea.

I’m not going to make you take a quiz but there are a plethora of them on the internet to help you on this journey.

Important questions: 1. What is working for you?  2. Are you feeling well grounded and centered in the skin you are in? 3. Does anyone have their finger on your trigger points? Oops, I lied this is a quiz isn’t it? Are you living your life or one someone else has designed for you? To thine own self be true! Can you hear Shakespeare now? 

It is extremely difficult to become self-aware if you are not fully in your body. What does that mean? Symptoms: Have you spent a day injuring yourself time after time? First you cut yourself shaving in the shower, you stub your big toe as you rush to get dressed, then you hit your head on the door knob. That is your body grabbing your awareness through pain, ‘hey be aware of all of you and where you are in time and space!’

How often do you walk around in public without a thought to how you look and how others experience you? Until someone asks, “Are you okay today, you seem a little scattered?”

I love TLC’s series, “What Not To Wear”, it is about people, who dress inappropriately, some dress clownish, some get stuck in an era, and some just want to be invisible. These people are not fully in their own body. What other reason would they expose mind-body-spirit to such mistreatment?

If you saw someone at the mall talking on one of those huge 1980’s cell phones, you would laugh out loud and take a picture, on your tiny cell phone to post on Face book.  Am I right? If you recognize when others are unaware, why not you.

Five steps to move toward self-awareness :

1. Open your eyes fully to better see your world– eyesight leads to insight
2. Body scan — what is your body telling you
3. Have a check list — today’s must do
4. What colors are you attracted to —  colors intuitively speak to you
5. Ask others how they experience you –using the  Johari window or questions below

                   Questions: to ask someone who is trustworthy about you:   What do you like about me the most? What do you dislike about me the most? What do you admire about me the most?

Self-compassion and self-acceptance are  essential steps to being in your body, which leads to self-awareness, which leads to emotional freedom.  If we teach people how to treat us by what we tolerate we have to tolerate all of us, because if you can handle the imperfections in you, then you can handle them when you witness them in others.

I said previously that I would go into the details of the seven steps,yet I have only covered one. I feel like we are sitting knee-to-knee on my front porch talking  and we got so into awareness that we lost track of time. I will revise my statement, we will get to all seven steps on this EF path as they flow. How is that for not committing to a specific time-frame?

Come back often for a cup of comfort with your cup of coffee!