A look at emotions from the “Inside Out”
It had been a long while since my partner and I had seen the original animated movie, “Inside Out.” I remembered really appreciating the quality and content of the first movie. Finally, someone was actually talking productively about emotions. How they affect us, and more importantly, how to look at them in a different way. While the movie was geared toward a younger audience, (introducing them to the emotional spectrum that lives inside each of us) adults, too have reaped the benefits of the original movie. While I was impressed with the first film, nothing prepared me for what we would all face in the second installment.
Inside Out 2: Made me, well — emotional
The most shocking thing about Disney/Pixar’s latest installment, “Inside Out 2,” was that I didn’t expect to be that moved. Like most people, I’ve been working to release my own negative emotions and triggers for decades. But to say that I found the messages in this movie so beautifully insightful would be an understatement. They were more than that. Because it wasn’t just me that was moved in the theater that day. The effects rippled palpably through the audience around me. We all shared a meaningful, collective experience.
Inside Out 2: Supression is not the answer
In “Inside Out 2,” there are four new emotions (characters) in town (*the town being our protagonist, Riley). “Anxiety,” “Envy,” “Embarrassment,” and Ennui (boredom) have come to wreck havoc. All of whom, I (and I bet every single one of you) have struggled with for most of our lives. What stood out particularly to me about this movie was two things: first, those seemingly protective but ultimately, sometimes more harmful ways in which each of us deal with uncomfortable emotions and second, the idea that we may just be causing ourselves and others more harm by judging, suppressing, or overly controlling our emotions.
**CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD**
After the introductions of the newest characters to the emotions of the previous movie, things finally get under way and the movie gets down to its central conflict. One of the new emotions, “Anxiety,” believes it knows best how to help their human. So, it does what so many of us —ignoring those uncomfortable emotions. Anxiety pushes the other emotions out, where they end up in a jar, with one of them exclaiming, “We’re suppressed emotions!” The truth of that moment hit us all at once, and the emotional resonance shuddered through the adults in the audience, erupting into applause and laughter. A gleeful recognition that, “It’s about time we talked about this.”
In another scene, the conflicted protagonist, Riley has an anxiety attack. I thought this scene was so well done and beautifully conveyed that it brought up feelings in me that I didn’t realize I still carried. Which just goes to show that truth reaches us, no matter the art form. (Anyway, bring tissues, I wish I had.) The end of the movie doesn’t disappoint, either. Instead, it wonderfully conveys some of the best tools for how to work with all of our emotions, without judgment.
Inside Out 2: The evolution of emotional processing
The biggest takeaway though, after sharing this emotionally cathartic experience with everyone in our theater, was the reminder of how we are evolving on this planet. It may not seem like it on the surface sometimes but if you pay attention, you will see it. Just look at how popular this movie is, and the way an entire theater of people, from different households and walks of life responded — with so much recognition and empathy. It really shows us how hungry people are for this kind of content and understanding.
It’s another signpost that consciousness is rising on our planet and that we are waking up to our power. When that happens, what is impeding suddenly becomes glaringly obvious. I often my clients (and try to take my own advice as well): “There is nothing broken in us, there is nothing even to fix, there’s only old fear-based belief patterns to let go of or transmute.
Process and release challenging emotions using energy & body work
This is exactly what the work I do is all about — helping others to find those energetic blocks, those hurt spaces, those judged places and clearing them, to raise your own energetic vibrations. When we are free from those low frequencies, our bodies can heal and thrive on their own.
And while, these things sound simple and in truth, they are — it does require your attention.
If you’re driven by your emotions in a negative way, remember this is simply a guide pointing out that you are not in alignment with who you truly are. We are meant to question our emotions not to accept them if they’re not favorable to us. Emotional triggers are there to help point the way to the places in us that need a bit of work, a little healing, a little light — a block cleared.
To learn to develop your own tools for clearing and healing from the inside out, call me for a free 15 minute consultation.
