Holding onto negative emotions and resentment can have deleterious effects on the body. The brain
doesn’t recognise the difference between negative emotions experienced in the present or what we
have experienced in the past. Recalling these past experiences can place the body into the
fight/flight/freeze mode and create the negative neuro-endocrinal flow of damaging hormones into
the brain and body.
In fact, these old negative resentments, although occurring far into our past, can be instantly
triggered especially when we are experiencing any challenge or difficult transition. The mere thought
of this negative experience can place the body into hyper arousal and trigger the flow of negative
hormones into the body. Often in cases such as these, the amygdala in the emotional brain is
triggered and this response leads to the firing of neurons on the right hand side of the brain instantly
secreting epinephrine and nora-epinephrine and ultimately cortisol the stress hormone. If left
unchecked this stress hormone attacks our immunoglobulin A – our immune system and over time
can lead to disease. Suppressing negative emotions can be really bad for one, as they can cause the
negative neuro-endocrinal cascade that can lead to poor health.
For starters, self-awareness helps to become more aware of what this memory and its associated
emotion means to you. Therefore, sitting quietly in a space where you are not interrupted, you can
allow the memory and its emotions to come into the body, carefully noting where they are anchoring
themselves. We have sacred energy centres in the body and where we feel these negative emotions
can be highly informative about their meaning. Constant pain or discomfort in the throat is
associated with not speaking one’s truth. Discomfort in the heart-centre is related to the lack of love,
self-love or close relationships. Discomfort in the solar plexis may indicate that one is transitioning
through accelerated change and feelings of tightness or discomfort in the abdomen is related to fear.
So, a good way of identifying the meaning of this negative experience is to allow yourself to feel it and
notice where it is anchoring in the body. We cannot suppress or negate these emotions and should
never even try. All emotions, especially the negative and powerful ones provide us with very helpful
information to guide us to a higher learning or understanding of these experiences.
Once we have increased our self-awareness therefore, a very therapeutic idea is to write it down.
There is a hand brain connection that is revealed when we take pen to paper. Let’s consider this
research by :
Pamela B Rutledge,
• Writing by hand instead of typing deepens content processing and supports emotional health.
• Regularly practicing handwriting may improve brain structure and function.
• While slower than digital, writing by hand daily may help fight cognitive decline.
While it seems most relevant to boomers and Gen X, we should all take note of the study by Van der
Weel and Van der Meer (2024), too, who found writing by hand (rather than tapping away on your
keyboard) increases brain connectivity. It may be time to consider deletin some of those list-making
and journal apps from your phone and return to paper and notebooks. Healthy media use of any kind
is, after all, about balance. I realized that I write very little by hand but if doing so activates the whole
brain, then it may join the list of activities, like doing crossword puzzles and learning a new language,
that help stave off cognitive decline. There’s lots of empirical evidence that writing has psychological
benefits. Writing helps people process life’s emotional ups and downs through sense-making—the
greater the cognitive effort to find meaning (Ullrich & Lutgendorf, 2002), the greater appreciation of
the benefits and improved mood. Meaning and positive emotions are central to well-being.
Cognitive Activities Enhance Brain Structure
Wilson et al. (2013) reported that evidence from neuroimaging indicates that cognitive activity like
handwriting can enhance brain structure and function and may enhance cognitive reserves. Many
studies tested these hypotheses on students’ academic performance, but I’m more interested in the
ability to use media (and yes, pen and paper still count as media) for healthy aging. So, add
handwriting to your list. I’ve never been one to keep a journal, but I now wonder if the exclusive use of
computers and the lack of handwriting practice is doing my brain a disservice by decreasing the
activity of cortico-subcortical components of the writing network (Longcamp et al., 2016). My reliance
on computers has certainly not done any favours for the legibility of my handwriting.
Like many things, shifting behaviors requires conscious intention, attention, and effort, but it may be
time to actively integrate handwriting into some each day. It’s OK to start small. And no one says you
have to throw out your computer. As each year passes, I am more interested in what I can gain in
quality, not what I lose in quantity and lack of efficiency”
So now that I’ve convinced you to write again, follow these steps to attain emotional freedom:
1. Write down the negative experience you have had in all its detail. Include all emotions you
felt at the time and the way in which this has negatively impacted your life. It should be at
least two fully written foolscap pages. If you can write more do so.
2. Now put yourself in the shoes of the other person/party. This is much more difficult to do
and may require some imagination. Don’t worry about that, just imagine, for a moment that
you have been required to walk in this person/party’s shoes and record the experience as you
imagine they did. Try to write at least one foolscap page.
3. Imagine that an independent reporter has come to interview you about the incident. Again,
this may be difficult to imagine yourself viewing this matter in an objective way. Put on your
simulation cap here and try to record the experience from the independent reporter’s
perspective.
4. Approach a good friend, coach, mentor, partner and ask for their assistance in allowing you to
share these experiences with them. Firstly, share your experience, then the other party and
finally the independent reporter’s view.
5. Place a fire proof tray or oven dish in the garden where you can perform this ritual of release.
Tear all the notes into fine pieces and set them alight repeating – “I release you to God” over
and over again until all the notes are reduced to ashes. Note how you feel after this release.
6. Now take your pen and paper once again and write a letter from your higher self, thanking
yourself for having the courage to release the experience.
I have coached many clients who have performed this Emotional Freedom Release and everyone felt
an immediate release and lightness of being. However, should you not experience this release,
consider re-doing the exercise, until you do.
References to Pamela Rutledge’s research
• Amanollahi, M., Amanollahi, S., Anjomshoa, A., & Dolatshahi, M. (2021). Mitigating the negative
impacts of aging on cognitive function; modifiable factors associated with increasing cognitive
reserve. European Journal of Neuroscience, 53(9), 3109-
3124.https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15183
• Galassi, F., Merizzi, A., D’Amen, B., & Santini, S. (2022). Creativity and art therapies to promote healthy
aging: A scoping review. Front Psychol, 13, 906191. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.906191
• Longcamp, M., Richards, T. L., Velay, J. L., & Berninger, V. W. (2016). Neuroanatomy of handwriting and
related reading and writing skills in adults and children with and without learning disabilities: Frenchamerican
connections. Pratiques, 171-172. https://doi.org/10.4000/pratiques.3175
• Salthouse, T. (2012). Consequences of age-related cognitive declines. Annu Rev Psychol, 63, 201-
226. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100328
• Ullrich, P. M., & Lutgendorf, S. K. (2002). Journaling about stressful events: Effects of cognitive
processing and emotional expression. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(3), 244-
250. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15324796ABM2403_10
• Van der Weel, F. R., & Van der Meer, A. L. H. (2024). Handwriting but not typewriting leads to
widespread brain connectivity: A high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom [Original
Research]. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1219945
• Wilson, R. S., Boyle, P. A., Yu, L., Barnes, L. L., Schneider, J. A., & Bennett, D. A. (2013). Life-span
cognitive activity, neuropathologic burden, and cognitive aging. Neurology, 81(4), 314-
321. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e31829c5e8a
