MAY 2012

A Conversation with Lewis Harrison  on creating Psychological Balance

Foundational Principle for this Conversation: To explore ways to create and maintain equilibrium in feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. To expand from negative emotions or no emotions to positive emotions

Definition – What are emotions and even more what is Emotional Balance? Its  is really nothing more than equilibrium in feelings, thoughts, behaviors and other factors related to the emotions in the face of problems and obstacles. Emotional balance is the ability to transcend  negative emotions and master all emotions.

Let’s start with an emotions list: There is happy, sad, angry, fearful, love, joyful. Of course these are human emotions

STUDENT: It seems that it is not easy to define what an emotion is.

LEWIS: That is true.

STUDENT: If emotions cannot be specifically defined why is the concept of emotional equilibrium so important?

LEWIS: Any feeling, even a hidden emotion iscentral to determining your personal sense of well-being. They also play an essential role in many human activities. The more you understand your emotions the wiser you become concerning the choices you make.

STUDENT: Clearly emotion and thought are tightly linked. Which comes first, emotion or thought?

LEWIS: There are some researchers who believe that some emotions can be caused without any thoughts or any cognitive activity. Other researchers point out that people behave in certain ways: fighting, fleeing, or crying as a direct result of their emotional state. We may respond emotionally to an event that happens so quickly that we respond before we even have a chance to think about our response. Remember, babies and animals experience emotions and have automatic body responses to the emotions.

STUDENT: Do animals, other than humans express emotions?

LEWIS: Research indicates more and more that this is so.

STUDENT: It would seem that in order to live a good life it’s important that we have boundaries around our emotions?

LEWIS: Yes! This is a sign of emotional maturity. Emotional maturity means that we can effectively respond physically to our emotions: fleeing or freezing up in the face of fear, for instance.

STUDENT: Please speak more about emotional boundaries.

LEWIS: Expressing our emotions is important, but how we express them, that is even more important.

APRIL 2012 Dance and Movement Therapy For Depression

The foundation of all therapeutic body movement approaches is that to a trained observer movement reflects inner emotions and conscious changes in movement can also influence behavior. This is so in Yoga, tai Chi, and in Dance/movement therapy. One of the greatest articulators of this concept is was the late Israeli Physicist Moshe Feldenkrais.

Dance has always been a highly expressive art form. Modern dance, which developed in the early part of the 20th century, was particularly experimental and expressive and less regimented than ballet. The natural progressive nature of this type of movement lead to the realization that modern dance could be a highly effective tool when used to address issues related to communication and emotional expression.  Dance/movement therapy, which, emerged from modern dance in the 1940s, has become a valuable tool for individuals of all ages who struggle to express their feelings verbally.

B Lewis Harrison – Director of the Natural Healing Academy

www.chihealer.com