The Emotional Nervous System

The Emotional Nervous System

Energy is a force that takes many forms.

The emotional nervous system refers to the limbic system of the brain. This is the section of the brain that controls the person’s emotions, motivations, memories, and behavior. It’s an important physical, mental/emotional and spiritual element in the body that is expressed through the responses of the endocrine & autonomic nervous systems.

Humans are social beings with the desire to connect.

Humans are born with the need to connect with others as social beings. They seek & desire love and acceptance through connections to others. Spiritually humans are designed to seek a connection to a great source than themselves as well. The basic lesson in life is to come from love and not from fear. Fear occurs when the individual feels disconnected from one’s spiritual source. Most, if not all, emotions are some nuance of these 2 emotions.

One of the purposes for the individual’s life is to learn, grow, and master the lessons life presents to them.  The greatest learning comes from the lessons that get their attention. All too often negative experiences & emotional traumas produce a level of pain the person isn’t capable of understanding, as in the case of young children or the trauma is so intense the person can’t deal with it. As a result the emotions are buried in the subconscious. At this point  the individual thinks they have dealt with it and gotten past the pain. However, that pain is very much alive & doesn’t die.  Instead, it becomes a fear-based survival pattern.

When a person experiences fear in a new situation where no earlier emotional experience has been attached, the brain’s learning center (Hippocampus) creates a new memory of fear.  However, if the person feels fear due to a past experience the brain historian (Amygdala) activates & the person automatically responds. Both of these feed their responses to the heart of the limbic system (Hypothalamus) which connects to the endocrine (hormones) & autonomic (circulatory, respiratory, sympathetic & parasympathetic) nervous systems.  All of these work together to manage emotional responses, especially those tied to survival instincts, social bonding, and memory consolidation.  All future responses will be the same unless the pattern is changed.

Whose really in control?