I’m taking care of my nieces for a long weekend while my sister and brother-in-law are away. As part of our evening routine together we did a little yoga. I invited them to notice what they felt in their bodies.
One told me she felt sad. She missed her parents. We discussed that this was normal. We also discussed where she felt the sadness in her body.
Suddenly, her sister, who only moments earlier had been cheerfully laughing, fell silent. He shoulders slumped and her back rounded. She, too, suddenly missed her parents.
One of the possible bright spots from the past 19 months of living through a global pandemic has been the enhanced awareness of how invisible diseases can spread.
Emotions work in the same way.
We easily “catch” the emotions of a person or group of people who are in proximity to us. The closer the relationship, the easier it is to transmit or take on what another is feeling.
That can be sadness shared between siblings, or fear passed on from parent to child. It can also be joy or dread you feel at doing a task. Unconsciously, we pay attention to how other people are at least as much, if not more, than what they say.
Bringing conscious awareness to these cues can help us see the origins of our own emotional patterns.
notice what you feel
emotions are contagious
where did you catch yours
Love it? Hate it? What do you think? Don't hold back...