Growing up, any emotion but anger was a sign of weakness. My mom was emotionally open and honest, but my dad was suppressed and closed off. I would only express my emotions when I was alone and I would close myself off to anyone else. Turns out, emotional suppression is actually unhealthy. While my body could tolerate it as a kid and young adult, as I got older I started experiencing the physical symptoms of stress and emotional repression like migraines and severe muscle pain in my neck and upper back. I finally began working through this in weekly therapy sessions with a psychologist, but if I had addressed this when I was younger, maybe I could have avoided all that pain in my adult years. I wish I could have used a platform like MyCuraJOY to talk to someone about my emotions and learn how to express them.
Emotional repression
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Feel. Think. Reflect. Don’t “Seal” Your Fate
I took my daughters along the Southern California coastline over the weekend and had the good fortune of observing newborn seals and two mother seals in labor up close. In one beach alcove, around 50 seals swam, lounged about, and nursed their young comfortably in the safety of numbers and natural environmental barriers. Every year,…
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Critical Skill for Balance in Life
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Empathy Helps Relationships and Careers
Research shows that strong empathy in children equates to less bullying, aggressive behavior, and emotional disorders, and to better relationships, communication skills, classroom engagement, and success in school. Another study finds that teenagers’ ability to experience and express empathy changes and can continue to develop during this important yet often turbulent life stage. Parents can…
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