Emovere

Recently I have been watching and reading dr Gabor Maté's work on how psychological trauma penetrates the physical. For yogi's not so new but it is absolutely amazing to see somebody who is trained in mainstream medicine, who has 'seen it all' in the hospital, be humbled by life. It is rare to sense a doctor's willingness to go beyond textbook medicine knowledge and ask about the patient's emotional and social life.

It reflects my own experience of finding my inner world and listening to inner inklings, a long journey of opening up to deeper needs and valuing my emotions. Especially for women this is still a tricky area, as we are often labelled 'over-emotional' or 'over-sensitive'. Yet if we disect the word emotion we get to the core: movement. We are humans, we are moved. If we do not let life touch us, we are mere robotic creatures. Healthy emotional expression and aknowledgement liberate us from suppression and isolation. Emotions are the best teachers, they move us to where we are supposed to go. If we suppress, we go astray. 

Again, I come from far. Twentyfive years ago my then psychologist asked me to note down how I felt during the day; categorizing into four Dutch B-words 'boos, bang, bedroefd, blij' (angry, scared, sad and happy). I came back to him the next week with an empty page - I had no clue how I felt. No one ever asked me, no one ever modelled or expressed feelings. The journey began then.

I wished I had Dr Gabor as a physician back then. 

Read this book.