When it comes to adopting a new type of training and nutrition programme, it’s always important to take many details into careful consideration. And one of those vital aspects to ensure you understand is the power of the emotional self.
I’ve trained a variety of individuals over the last eight years, all of whom have boasted their own unique emotional selves. I truly believe this to be the most important part of training and transformation, but it is, unfortunately, a factor which is often overlooked or even completely ignored.
“…one of those vital aspects to ensure you understand is the power of the emotional self…”
As a Personal Trainer, it would be a fairly easy and straight forward solution to just hand out a meal and workout plan, or to calculate a particular client’s recommended calorie intake required to reach their goal, and then simply announce: “follow that to the letter and you will undoubtedly achieve results”.
That is, after all, the very basics of the science behind taking care of the physical self. But what about the emotional self?
Your emotional self is a separate entity from your mental and physical selves. Your emotional self, as the name would suggest, is all about your feelings: how you feel about yourself; how you feel about food and eating habits; how you feel about your ability to truly transform and achieve your goals.
These feelings can not only cause mental and emotional difficulties, but they can also manifest themselves physically in our posture and mobility. If we are consistently holding onto negative emotions that we are either unwilling or unable to let go of, they can become lodged in our bodies, creating pain, discomfort, and postural problems. If, for example, you are fearful or have experienced some sort of trauma in your life, this will manifest itself in your hips and lower back; if you have yet to properly grieve a loss, the emotion will be trapped within your chest and shoulders.
It is, therefore, very important for us to identify and understand what these kinds of emotions are so that we can then work on releasing them. When released successfully, we experience a far greater freedom of movement which, in turn, results in a heightened ability to exercise. Mobility exercises do help, of course, but they fail to get to the root of the problem, merely covering the surface.
Ultimately, the emotional self is a very powerful tool. And because it is so powerful, it requires real understanding and awareness to use it effectively. Without the ability to harness its power, it can have a negative impact on a huge number of aspects.
Does this sound familiar?
Obviously, food is the example here but, in reality, that could be replaced with anything that may be considered “bad for you” or anything that could sabotage your progression in creating positive and healthy changes in your life.
The truth is that, despite being such a powerful aspect of your make-up, the emotional self is really just like any muscle in the body – it can be trained, nurtured, and cared for in order to ensure that it is operating at its optimum level.
To achieve that, we first must understand its purpose at that particular time: What is the emotion in question? Where has it originated from? What can we do to harness it positively?
“…the emotional self is really just like any muscle in the body – it can be trained, nurtured, and cared for in order to ensure that it is operating at its optimum level…”
When it comes to training the emotional self to be stronger and healthier, we must become aware of what triggers the particular emotion and what our reaction to those triggers actually is. As a result, we can increase awareness of these triggers and begin to improve our reactions:
Like in the early stages of any training programme, it can feel daunting and may need consistent hard work at the start, there may even be the odd occasions where we give in, but, the more time we spend on training our emotional self, the weaker the negative emotions will become.
Of course, the emotional self is not all about negative emotions – there are positive emotions in all of us that also require training. Sometimes the negative feelings may be enough to motivate us into beginning a journey towards transformation, but it is our positive emotions which ultimately help to power us through.
In order to achieve all of our goals, we have to find something in the here and now that we truly love and believe about ourselves. It is that positive energy that then allows us to find the motivation and dedication to make great strides forward. If identifying that authentic and positive aspect is something that you find to be a struggle, then this is the real starting point to creating productive and forward-looking change, even before the training programmes have been set or the nutrition guides have been formulated.
Training your emotional self is not the easiest. In fact, I believe it to be one of the most difficult aspects to overcome. We are programmed to be critical of ourselves and constantly compare our looks and lives with others, be it in the gym, at work, or on social media. Often with a negatively placed emotional self, we find it easier to simply forget about the experiences, turning a blind eye to distressing or damaging emotions, and continuing in the unhealthy cycles that have hampered our progress to date. From that cycle often comes a greater desire to change but also, adversely, far bigger hurdles to get over to do so. And so, the cycle continues creating less motivation, more discomfort and an increased possibility of addiction.
“…it is that positive energy than then allows us to find the motivation and dedication to make great strikes forward…”
The holistic training approach I provide focuses on training your body and your emotional self simultaneously, you can not only break that negative cycle but also create a new, positive, self-fulfilling, and life-changing cycle – emotionally strong enough to keep going and to never give up, reaping the transformational benefits along the way and forging a bright path to health and happiness.
Some say “tough love”, but I simply say “love”.
For more information about EAPT or to book your place, call Emma on 07875 004 957 or e-mail at emma@emmaandersonpt.com