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Emotional Genius -- How Your Emotions Can Save Your Life
by Karla McLaren
Sounds True, Boulder, Colorado
Eight CD set offered by Living Nutrition for $59.95
Review by David Klein

We are more -- much much more -- than just our bodies, our minds, and our habits. In fact, on the deepest level, who we are is largely emotions. Our humanness is a rich fabric of emotionally flowing energy. However, without an understanding of this emotional nature, most people flounder in their quest for health, happiness and freedom.

Studying physiology and health science books, eating right, exercising regularly, and other healthful practices are all well and good--but if self-improvement is our goal, if we desire to truly know ourselves and arrive at our ultimate level of well-being and mastery, we need to go beyond those practices.

Emotional Genius a set of 8 powerful CDs (9.5 hours total time) with a 22-page study guide by Karla McLaren, who is perhaps the world's leading educator on the subject of emotional healing. I recommend the tapes to everyone, no matter how well versed they may be in health, Natural Hygiene, and psychology, because emotions have been, and still are today, one of the most poorly understood realms of human knowledge.

Our level of emotional intelligence is commonly low, due to social taboos against feeling, honoring, and expressing certain emotions. Ego-centered mores which minimize emotional authenticity, resulting in detachment from our true feelings, are largely responsible for the dearth of healthy relationships and the preponderance of disease.

Emotional Genius goes into depth about our emotional nature, helping us to work on those aspects of our selves which need healing, so we can mature. In becoming healthy and whole, we then are enabled to recreate our relationships and society in increasingly healthful ways.

Ms. McLaren is an empath, teacher and author who specializes in the field of emotional trauma work. She states that roughly 50 percent of our society‚s people are trauma survivors, and teaches that all of our emotions, including the most difficult ones, are carriers of energy, information and wisdom that have the power to protect and heal us. When properly channeled, emotions serve as a flowing link between the needs of our body and the wisdom of our spirit.

She contends that ignorance about our emotions is the major reason behind man's strife, while allowing ourselves the feeling (as opposed to ignoring, repressing or "stuffing down") and wise handling of our emotions, especially those labeled "negative," has the potential to heal our souls and bring peace to our society. As Ms. McLaren states, anger is a healing force, and when properly handled, even such emotions as hatred come and go and flow on their merry way.

Emotional self-mastery is a continuing process which can yield ever greater rewards. The Emotional Genius tapes are a rich source of teachings about who we are and how to ascend beyond the shackles of certain emotional patterns, such as blaming, fighting, self-loathing, depression, fearfulness, overeating and binge eating. In the context of healthful eating, I've always asserted that even the best natural healthfoods can be bad for us if we use them to cover up our emotions, rather than to satisfy true hunger.

Ms. McLaren teaches how to address disease by balancing our quaternity: the mind, body, spiritual and emotional aspects of our being. The tapes are replete with superb exercises addressing each of the emotions, including sadness, anger and hate. I gleaned so much new information about myself and my emotional make-up that I will be listening to certain tapes over and over. I find them a wonderful way to progress on my path. If one is not ready to work on his or her emotional issues, listening can still be hugely helpful, turning the listener in the right direction for future growth.

Our emotional nature is beautifully rich and alive. In embracing our whole emotional nature and channeling our emotions in constructive ways, we are enabled to swim more and more joyfully in the present currents of life. This is sure to elevate our level of well-being, enabling us to feel more energetically alive and heal our physical and psychological wounds faster, while changing our outlook on life towards the positive. Emotional confidence also helps to enhance our talents, enabling us to express our "raw passions" more effectively for good in the world.

Emotional Genius ranks second to none on my list of must-study educational resources.

TAPE ONE - WHAT IS EMOTIONAL GENIUS?
Side A: Background and biography. Animal wisdom. Our shared out-of-body experiences. The place for emotions in spiritual healing. Empathy vs. clairvoyance. Open-mindedness as a mark of genius. The fallacy of "good" and "bad" emotions. Where our genius really lies. Emotional Genius defined. The myth of "curing" emotions. Uncommon sense. How the emotions of others affect us . A tragic relationship. Energy for survival. What links body, mind, and spirit. The candid nature of emotions. More
Side B: Repressing, expressing, and honoring our emotions. What is emotional channeling? . Carl Jung and the Quaternity . Indigenous views of the emotions. Taoism: the way of the water. How to regain lost balance. The four elements: a map of the psyche, personality types, and social groups. Effects of the educational system. The Air type. The Earth type. The Fire type. The Water type. More

TAPE TWO - RESTORING YOUR ELEMENTAL NATURE
Side A: The importance of being judgmental. Wisdom and discernment: crucial parts of adult thinking. Judging vs. name-calling. Clairvoyance and the sixth chakra . True commitment - and how we can reach it . The vital functions of a healthy intellect. How the mind is linked to body, spirit, and emotion. Nature: the elusive "fifth element" . How to become a miracle worker. The feeling of true balance. More
Side B: How to ask big questions. Getting out of hell. Gaining an understanding of your suffering. Distraction vs. acknowledgment. The three ways victims respond to trauma. Michael Meade and childhood initiation. Anger and forgiveness. The unique natUre of every emotional experience. More

TAPE THREE - BUILDING YOUR SANCTUARY
Side A: "Wading in the water." How to create your own meditative sanctuary .
Building an emotional container. The Aura Coliseum visualization. Your internal navigators. What is suffering? . Returning to the present through the body. Our connection to the earth. Working with the three lower chakras . The need for boundaries. More
Side B: Boundaries (continued) . A non-mystical model of the aura. How to sense your aura. The Sanctuary meditation. Constructing your raft for emotional navigation. The importance of good, old-fashioned complaining. How to create healthy affirmations. The benefits of negative thinking - and the dangers of positive thinking. Making - or breaking - contracts with your emotions. Gold Sun Healing meditation. More

TAPE FOUR - WADING INTO THE WATER
Side A: The essential "fifth element" . Playing in the shallows. Meeting eight of your emotions on their terms. A common misconception about feelings. The energy and information within our emotions. Movement and evolution: the proper emotional flow. Becoming a competent emoter . Calling forth sadness. Respect for our emotions. Authentic anger. Physiological effects of the emotions . Reflections on contentment, guilt, happiness, and other emotions. The difference between fear and worry. On joy, and the reminder that all of our emotions are temporary. More
Side B: Who and what our emotions are. The homeopathic perspective. The Bach Flower Remedies. Feelings as our first language. "Sunlight" (poem) . The Angers: What needs restoring, and what needs protection? . Anger and the crossing of our boundaries. The energy for "housecleaning" . Anger as an ally. How to handle fury and rage. Gratitude for our anger. More

TAPE FIVE - DELVING DEEPER
Side A: What must be protected? What is hatred, and why is it a healthy feeling? . The obsessive nature of hatred. The fascinating relationship between hate partners. Projection-based love. Hatred: a twisted kind of love? . Our shadow selves. Restoring your boundaries. Hate exercise. Why it takes work to transform hatred into love. Hatred as a guide: "All Right" (poem). The true source of peace, mercy, and forgiveness. The fallacy of oneness with all things. More
Side B: Breaking unproductive cycles of depression. Repressed anger. What is sadness? . Why cry? . Despair - stagnant sadness energy. Addressing old, unhealed wounds. How to grieve through the body. Joy. Beauty and communion. Why you cannot catch joy by chasing it . The miserable life of the happiness addict. The natural flow of joy. Guilt and shame. Guilt defined. Healthy shame, harmful shame. Inauthentic shame and addictive behaviors. Breaking unhealthy shame cycles. More

TAPE SIX - BEING AN EMOTIONAL GENIUS
Side A: The Fears: the primal protectors of the soul. True courage and healthy fear. Traumatic flashbacks. How fear fine-tunes our responses. Worries and anxieties - getting to their source. Full-fledged terror and panic attacks. Caring for your body during fearful experiences. The suicide urge and what causes it . The rift between who we are and what we have become. What needs to die? . Early childhood trauma and suicidal feelings. More
Side B: Boredom and confusion: two masking states. Powerlessness and staunched energy. Adolescent boredom. A spirit/body imbalance. The boredom/distraction cycle. How to productively engage your boredom. Getting your instincts back. What is your intention? Why love is not an emotion. Love vs. longing, attraction, desire, yearning, projections, and passions. Love is immovable. Emotional agility. Channeling the suicidal urge. What you resist, you become. Some guidelines for working with emotions in your daily life. A prayer and blessing. More