10 Jan Emotional Contagion
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3E9U3GDrmI[/youtube]
We all know what it’s like to get struck by feelings and not be able to stop. Here’s a video of when it can happen in a funny, loving, light hearted way.
But there are other times that we talk less about and that how up more in therapy. Like when angry lights us up for no reason or when we are flooded by negative images or thoughts. Some of us manage this by shutting down. Others of us do something behaviorally. Most of us are affected whether or not we know it. Often we think, “There’s something wrong with me.” It takes skillful awareness to know that we might be affected by someone’s experience.
Course, we have something to do with it. We have something in us that is resonate enough with it that we are affected.
One of the great skills we can learn is how to know when “someone else is lighting our fire.” Awareness is key. Then the skills are how to gently, firming, usually without words give the energy back to the other person. That releases us to have a more conscious and compassionate response to life.
Does this ever happen to you?