The law of the conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it is merely transformed.

Emotions are the energy of feelings. When a strong emotion we do not want to feel presents itself, we so often tell ourselves or are told by others to “let it go.” While we can let go of our attachment to the emotion, we cannot truly let go of the emotion itself. When we focus on letting go or block an emotion, we are not truly moving forward. Using the conservation of energy law, the emotion must be transformed.

To transform an emotion takes patience as well as the faith that the emotion cannot harm us. Sitting and allowing the emotion to move through us, instead of expending energy to block the emotion, allows us to then transform the energy of the emotion into something useful for us.

One of my favorite transformation analogies revolves around the death of the caterpillar before the butterfly can be born. Prior to becoming a butterfly, the caterpillar anchors to the bottom of a twig or other solid object, then sheds its skin. The caterpillar then forms a chrysalis, while inside disintegrates completely into an amorphous goo. It is from this substance that the butterfly is formed. Frequently living feels like dying…

So often in life we feel that we are falling apart, being broken, even dying (or wanting to die). These are all signals that we are undergoing a transformation. It is imperative during this time that we breathe and focus on where we are supported, even if the only support we feel is the place we are sitting, standing or lying down. After the emotion passes through us, we can then choose who we want to use our newly transformed energy.

This is not a true death, it is merely the transformation we are undergoing at that time. Prior to organizing at a higher level, there is chaos. Just as inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar is broken down, we too must break down before we can build back up. I call this deconstruction. This, my dear friends, is the conservation of energy in action: transformation of an emotion from one form to another.

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