Emotional hygiene · The Emotionally Whole Family

Emotional hygiene

I love dogs, and I’m allergic to them.

We have 3 dogs.

I love horses, and I’m allergic to them.

We have a horse.

My options are: avoid the dogs and horse that I love, so I can “protect myself” from runnny eyes and stuffy nose.

Or I can engage them consciously.

I choose to engage.

I just know, as soon as I’ve pet them, fed them, or walked them, I need to go directly to the sink and wash my hands.

By choosing to engage, I must be aware of what I need for hygiene.

Hygiene keeps me healthy, not avoiding.

We have the same options with family.

We can avoid areas in order to “protect ourselves” from emotions that aren’t helpful.

Or we can engage, hopefully learning what I call “emotional hygiene”.

It’s us knowing what to do (and doing it) in order to not carry around anything in our hearts that could cause “stuffiness”.

Unfortunately, many choose to avoid instead of engage.

Many are afraid (which is already an emotion influencing behavior) of what can happen if they engage.

Emotional hygiene is one of the greatest skills a family can relearn.

I said relearn on purpose, because it’s instinctual in all of us.

It allows us to fully engage without getting sick.

It’s the emotional equivalent to going to the sink and washing our hands whenever necessary.

And we spend a month relearning this in the section of the full course called “Processing Present Emotions”.

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