can emotions be controlled?

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Many of us deal with difficult feelings that can affect our lives in various ways.
I don't recall really learning anything helpful in school about emotions other than we should “calm down” when we're feeling very upset. On the other hand, I also heard many people say, “Hey, your emotions are your emotions and you just have to deal with them.”
 
But is that true? Can emotions be controlled?
 
Many years ago, I got a new job. I thought it was what I wanted. But within a couple weeks of joining, I realized I made a huge mistake. Unbeknownst to me, my new supervisor had serious neurological issues which resulted in erratic and abusive behavior towards me and my colleagues.

My new shiny new job became an absolute nightmare.
 
And I didn't know how to cope.

​I couldn’t just quit as I needed a new job first, but in the interim I was having to deal with a pretty bad situation every day with seemingly no end in sight.

I dreaded going in and got nauseous sometimes before work.
 
I began to have intense anxious episodes culminating in what I now know are panic attacks.
 
I had never had panic attacks before though I had, of course, heard other people describe them. I had always assumed that they were exaggerating when describing the feeling of impending doom and absolutely hellish levels of uncontrollable emotions, fear, dread and actual physical sensations.
 
Many times, I could hardly catch my breath due to uncontrollable sobbing, and I thought I was going to die.
 
Though my partner did his best to help me, our home life suffered.
 
Eventually, I tried medication. Though it certainly improved my situation and I was grateful for it, I knew it was not a long-term solution for me personally.
 
I needed my emotions. And I needed to feel. And medication that causes me not to feel anything was just not a solution for me.
 
That's when I discovered hypnosis. It changed my life. It stopped the panic attacks. And I haven't had any since.

The main takeaway this experience gave me was a spotlight on the incredible power of our minds and how it is the command center for the body. Hypnosis helped me regain control of my body by helping me regain control of my mind.

So, let's start with a question. What in the world exactly are emotions?
 
Essentially, emotions are a response to neurological, physical or mental stimuli that are experienced in the body.
 
For some people, medication will be the best option.

However, because a LOT of our emotions are actually in response to conscious and unconscious thoughts, many if not most of us also have the option of controlling a lot of our emotions naturally by controlling our thoughts.
 
Your mind is constantly going. And your body is constantly reacting to those thoughts.
 
Most people are capable of controlling some or a lot of their emotional responses by controlling their thoughts.
 
If you are experiencing an increase in unwanted, undesirable and destructive emotions, a good place to start, if possible, is to become more mindful of the thoughts that are going through your head all day.
 
Practicing thought mindfulness and thought work is a powerful way to grasp more control over your emotions. This can certainly be done using several different methods.
 
Hypnosis is one such method that can make it a lot easier.
 
It worked for me, and it has worked for millions of other people.
 
But regardless of if you choose to try hypnosis or not, it can be very beneficial and powerful to check in with yourself frequently and ask yourself the following questions.

“How am I feeling right now?”
 
“Why am I feeling this way?”

“Do I want to feel this way?”

“I wonder what thoughts may be causing or contributing to this feeling?”

​And finally...

“Can I choose a better thought right now?” (HINT: The answer is  always YES!)




ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kesha Dent is a certified hypnotist, certified RTT hypnotherapist, transformational coach and author of "Life Change Now: A 3-Step Guide to Manifesting What You Want Through the Magic of Being Who You Are". She helps professional adults to achieve life success, overcome anxiety, reignite their confidence and break out of their limitations to create a life of purpose, productivity and passion. You can find her at www.newworldcoaching.org  .