Taking the Leap

If I could welcome 2020 in a brain-smart way, it would be with an emotional cleanse.

Emotions are everything.

I could use one of those mini-emotional cleanses right now, so please join me . . .

Have a mini-emotional cleanse

I'll start by complaining .  .  . perfect! The brain loves authenticity.

The situation is . . . blah . . . blah . . . blah . . . what everyone is feeling now after the Year of the Pandemic . . .

What I'm most stressed about is . . . I am losing control of my life.

I can protest that with anger: I feel angry that I can't see my grandchild. I can't stand it that my husband is weary. I hate it that I am so boring to talk with . . .

OK, I popped. Wow, there's some JOY . . . a real burst of it.

That's the leap – emotional release works!

The tool includes expressing one sadness, fear, and guilt, but sometimes the negative emotions clear right after we express anger. Anger is a forbidden feeling for many people and without it, anxiety, depression, and numbness run rampant and block the natural return to joy.

Positive emotions are now flowing so I'll strengthen them by continuing my mini-emotional cleanse (also called the Be Positive Cycle Tool).

I feel grateful that . . . my dog has the sweetest snore (I can hear her right now).

I feel happy that . . . my husband and I can still tease each other. Humor helps.

I feel secure that . . . 2020 has been a fantastic year in so many ways . . . I wrote two books, I made a quilt, I spent almost no money . . . I slowed down for long enough to do a lot of these cleanses and some deeper work with these tools that freed up my body and brain from some old emotional trash.

I feel proud that . . . I stepped through the portal of thoughts and cleared my emotions. Now I feel happy and excited about life.

Don't suppress .  .  . express!

The leap I am taking this year is that this pandemic era has changed the "dose" of EBT I need. I need to increase my reliance on clearing out my emotional clutter.

With the new Brain Based Health app, I can do that. Give me 90 seconds to four minutes (four if I've dug myself into a stress ditch) and I'll be back to Brain State 1.

Joy feels so clean and easy . . . so why not call 2021 The Year of Joy?

Sounds great to me.