Emotional Genius : Discovering the Deepest Language of the Soul [Paperback]

Karla McLaren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2001

All of your emotions - especially your strongest and most difficult feelings - are storehouses of unlimited energy and astounding wisdom. For instance, your rage can give you superhuman strength, your fear can save you from certain death, and your shame and depression can bring you to a complete (and often necessary) halt. Imagine what you could accomplish if - instead of repressing your emotions and losing your energy, or expressing them haphazardly and losing your way - you could marshal their energies and use them to increase your awareness, heal your relationships, and address your deepest wounds.

Emotional Genius takes you on a healing journey that delves, chapter by chapter, into each of the cultural impediments to true emotional agility - our misunderstanding of genius (it's not simply more intelligence), our disavowal of our emotional way of knowing (our empathy), our disconnection from the quaternary of elements that can make us whole and functional people, our overemphasis on unbalanced intellectual knowledge (our minds can only function properly when we have open access to our emotions, our spiritual awareness, and our grounded physicality), and the startling connection between unhealed trauma and the state of our present-day world. From that empathic understanding of the deep trouble all around us, a brilliant new view of emotional incapacity, avoidance behaviors, addictions, distractions, isolation, trauma, and dissociation emerges - and then leads to the specific healing and balancing practices that address these troubles and make emotional genius (and genius in every area of life) possible.

With the support of these self-healing and balancing practices, readers can then enter the territory of the emotions with their feet under them and their wits about them - and learn about the exquisite energy, information, and wisdom inside each of their emotions - the Honorable Sentry of Anger; The Profound Mirror of Hatred; the Water Bearer of Sadness; the Deep River of Grief; the Communion of Joy; The Intuitive Energy of Fear; the Frozen Fire of Panic and Terror; the Relational Radar of Jealousy and Envy; the Masking States of Apathy and Confusion; the Emotional Physics of Stress and Resistance; and why Love is not an emotion at all!

Each emotion is explored in empathic terms, which includes an explanation of the energy inside the emotion, what happens when it becomes trapped or overemphasized, how it works within the psyche, how it should work with your other emotions (and why it doesn't), specific practices and questions to help you welcome, work with, and honor that emotion - and suggestions for how to honor that emotion in others (even if they don't know how to honor it in themselves).

In this groundbreaking new work, empath Karla McLaren leads you on a step-by-step journey out of emotional confusion, energy loss, and suffering, and helps you discover your soul's deepest language and your own innate Emotional Genius.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Karla McLaren is brilliant - she brings a profound understanding of emotions and human behavior to a subject veiled in confusion. -- Susan Taylor, Ph.D., author of The Vital Energy Program

No one in the healing field can get within a hundred miles of this work. It's a national treasure. -- Alan Davies - this review is for the audio version of this work

About the Author

Karla McLaren is an award-winning author, teacher, and empathic healer who specializes in presenting spirituality as an intrinsic and tangible part of normal daily life. Her extensive, thirty-year study of energy work, tribal wisdom, depth psychology, and the energetic effects of physical and emotional trauma has allowed her to chart the emotional maps of the deepest and darkest parts of the psyche, where she has discovered - not despair or dismay - but a profound respect for the innate healing power of the human spirit.

Her writing and teaching practice is devoted to integrating the spirit and the body, welcoming the intellect, and restoring the brilliant healing energies of the emotions so each of us will have full access to our very own healing wisdom, intuition, and vitality. She is the author of four books and four audiotapes on spiritual and emotional healing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Laughing Tree Pr (July 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965658341
• ISBN-13: 978-0965658348
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #716,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hello!

I'm Karla McLaren. I'm an author, social science researcher, and empath, which means I know that I read emotions. My website is here: http://karlamclaren.com/

I worked as an empathic healer for twenty-five years, and I once thought that my empathic skills were mystical. However, I questioned that and returned to college in 2004 to learn about the roots of my empathic skills. I discovered that empathy is a natural human ability, but it looks magical because most of us are so confused about emotions.

I received my B.A degree in Social Science and Sociology in 2006, graduating summa cum laude as a national Phi Kappa Phi honors scholar. I also worked as a researcher and editor on numerous sociological studies and textbooks.

A special focus in my studies continues to be the sociology of work and occupations, because I am fascinated by the many ways that the workplace reinforces emotional illiteracy. I continue to study everything I can get my hands on regarding work; I'm a Certified Human Resource Administrator and a Certified Career Testing and Guidance Counselor.

In my sabbatical from my healing career, I also had the opportunity to work as a Prison Arts Educator for the William James Association's Prison Arts Project. I taught a cappella singing, drumming, and drama in a maximum security men's prison, and loved the work completely. Being with these men, hearing their stories, and helping them organize their stories into artistic expression was an honor. As a survivor of early childhood trauma, this experience also helped me complete a circle of healing that started with healing my own trauma, then evolved into helping other survivors of trauma. Finally, facing a source of trauma -- facing these perpetrators themselves, I didn't find monsters. I found fellow trauma survivors, and I loved them.

Now, I'm excited to say that I've re-written my 2001 book, Emotional Genius, to include excellent new information -- not just from the academic world of sociology, neurology, social psychology, and cognitive psychology, but also from the mythological, poetic, artistic realm where true empathy and deep healing reside. This new book (and audio learning program) is called The Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You (Sounds True, 2010).

In The Language of Emotions, I use my empathic skills on the emotions themselves, and treat them as a complete and interdependent system without which we cannot be whole. In the field of the sociology of emotions, researchers attempt to connect emotions across cultures to create a grand unified theory of emotion. In this book, I jump into the middle of the emotional realm itself and connect the emotions within and throughout the psyche. The emotions are a fascinatingly interconnected and unified system, and I'm so looking forward to sharing this information with you!

Cheers,
Karla McLaren

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely the best in self-help, August 14, 2001

By 

C. Grant "deva50" (St. Charles, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emotional Genius : Discovering the Deepest Language of the Soul (Paperback)

Karla McLaren is a genius! Her work is totally body-based which means you aren't meditating to the cosmos to find an escape from your life, you're welcoming the cosmos in to lead a meaningful, whole life. And that means getting back in touch with your emotions so they can flow through you instead of getting stuck in your mind or body. NOBODY else has written a book like this, trust me. She gives beautiful descriptions of the emotions and what their real gifts are to you. She guides you through various questions to get to the heart of the problem you are having. She teaches you how to get to the heart of your emotions with incredible acceptance and kindness. Another plus is that she goes into depth about balancing your quaternity or elemental nature (earth, air, fire, water) whether you know you have one or not. But it never gets heavy. It's like you're chatting with her over coffee! The author also gives explicit directions for beginning or maintaining a "grounded meditation" to include as a daily practice. I've been practicing it for several years and it has made a tremendous difference in my life and my view of the world. It makes you feel fully alive and grounded. None of that spacey, "what's it all about", out-of-body stuff in this book. BUY THIS BOOK. You won't regret it. Karla is earthy, funny, inspired, and sincerely wants people to become whole again.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Karla's conversion to skepticism aside...still a great book, April 16, 2002

By 

BookLover (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emotional Genius : Discovering the Deepest Language of the Soul (Paperback)

Yes, it's true Karla McLaren has converted to skepticism. And I fully agree with the insightful review posted by Leela. That said, I still found this book very helpful. It is peppered with "unsubstantiated" concepts like chakras, auras, and such, but setting aside the ability to irrefutably confirm the existence of these concepts, the techniques she recommends are still very useful for understanding and processing various emotional states. Self-examination is a healthy endeavor and in many respects Karla's repudiation of her work is courageous. However to me, skepticism as is it typically practiced appears to be the mirror image of blind faith. Personally, I believe it's possible to marry a healthy interest in honest inquiry with the ability to embrace the mysteries and magic of life. I will still keep this book in my library, and wish only the best for Karla as she continues along her own personal journey.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healing in a troubled time, October 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Emotional Genius : Discovering the Deepest Language of the Soul (Paperback)

This book manages to be down-to-earth and sensible even though it's about energetic healing, which can sometimes lead writers into the ozone. But McLaren is funny and practical, and she knows a huge amount about what it means to be human and how it feels to be grappling with anger, panic, and fear. And she has solutions!

Right now, when people are so sad and scared, is the best possible time for a book like this. We can't do anything useful for the world if we don't make friends with and understand our own emotional reactions. But even in calmer political times, I plan to keep this nearby to help me with all the emotions that come up in life, to help me function better at my job, with my family, and with my friends.

Emotional Genius is a) hugely useful, and b) deeply comforting. I'm very glad to have found it.