Emotional Freedom is referred to as Moksha or Mukti in Sanskrit, and is the concept of deep emancipation or release of psychological ignorance, fear, and mental suffering. In life, emotional pain is often felt as an intense energy that takes over the mind and body, causing various impulses to cry, scream, or shake. These impulses help us process what is happening in the world around us, to digest emotional energy that happens in response to our surroundings.
The emotional responses, however, are a product of how our perception is interpreting what’s in front of us. The younger we are, the more skewed and uncertain our perception can be, but it is also a time when our brain records associations and interpretations of emotional or physical danger.
In our brains, this place is called the “amygdala.” Its entire job is to record associations of danger and send out alarm bells when that association is present. As an adult however, this can mean that alarm bells recorded as a child are still firing through your central nervous system, creating impulses to fight, flee, freeze, or fawn in order to protect us. Regardless of our rational thinking or ability to see present day associations differently, this part of our brain keeps sending out the signals of danger.
Emotional freedom is when you can unlock these signals and false perceptions and stay in the present in a calm, centered way. You can be responsive if a need arises, or real danger occurs, but it doesn’t rattle you in the way that activates intense emotional energy. The practice of Moksha is the ability to step out of the swing between records from the past and projections into the future. It is the movement into being fully present and into feelings of calm and joy that take place in the here and now. It is also the connection to a sense of choice in how you respond to what’s in front of you. No longer do the automatic primitive responses take over your brain and body—you feel a choice surrounding how you’d like to respond to the situation at hand. And because you are not driven by fear, you have an enormous reserve of energy to fuel your actions.
This is true emotional freedom. Being present in your life today, not stuck in projections and mental interpretations that activate fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses and take over your body. Emotional freedom is the ability to feel relaxed and enjoy your life, and not be easily rattled. Often, we go to therapy because we are stuck in an automatic emotional response that takes us over, and we want to be free of it. Through curiosity, willingness to look at what is happening to our minds and bodies, and using the body to process emotional memory that is stuck in our nervous systems will provide the way forward. Using practices like meditation, which enhances the noticing brain, also allows a direct pathway to the amygdala and helps it to shift.
Meditation, in conjunction to somatic therapies such as EMDR and IFS, can bring you onto the path of emotional freedom. You just have to be willing to take the first step—acknowledge what is happening inside of you that takes you over in a big emotional way, as well as any numb or disconnected feelings. Then use your courage to turn towards it. With the help of a therapist, this doesn’t have to feel overwhelming or scary! Over time with support, you will build confidence in your ability to get through the emotional intensity and find more and more internal space and lasting resolution.
To find out more information about how to do this with the help of Internal Family Systems and EMDR therapy, please message me directly: info@jennifernorstrom.com
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