Book Group: Emotional Freedom Introduction

In her introduction to Emotional Freedom, Judith Orloff defines emotional freedom by framing it in love and compassion, for ourselves and for others.  She had me right there.   Even if the "how to" of emotional freedom hadn't made sense to me, the focus on love and compassion did.  One of the other things I loved right away was that she didn't talk about eliminating negative emotions;  she talks about transforming them.  Think about that for a minute.  This isn't about making bad things go away; it's about taking something negative and transforming it into something better.  

Orloff then goes on to explain a little about her journey, and the way she approaches psychiatry. Dreams, intuition, energy, and traditional medicine all feed into her practice.  Our emotions change our energy, and that energy moves beyond us to influence others.  Your spirituality is also tied in with your emotions and energy.

It is impossible to grasp how we tick emotionally without a cosmic perspective; everything about us, including our biology, is an expression of the divine.  Seeing emotions as a training ground for the soul frames every victory over fear, anxiety, and resentment as a way to develop your spiritual muscles and be better able to love and cultivate goodness.  Anything that keeps you from your light distances your spiritual connection too.
(page 4)

Emotions as a training ground for the soul.  I love that!

She gives a brief outline of what she will cover in the book.  She also encourages readers to make small and simple changes.  Do little things that move you in the right direction.

Small changes.  I'm getting better at that, but it still needs work.  I'm going to move through these chapters at a pace of about one chapter a week, focusing on 1 or 2 small things the week after the post.  You don't have to follow any particular schedule.  Move at your own pace.  The posts will be here when you are ready to discuss or reflect.  And as always, you're free to comment on something in the posts, even if you haven't read yet.

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:

1.  What emotions are you interested in transforming?  

2.  What do you think about using dreams and intuition as sources of wisdom?  Is that completely natural to you, or does that feel like weirdo, out-there, crazy stuff?  (By the way, there is plenty of good advice from Western medicine and psychology in this book too, so if the other stuff is too much for you, you can still get something from the book.)

3.  How have your emotions affected your spirituality?  

4.  What did you like in this Introduction?  

5.  What things didn't sit well with you or bothered you?