Emotions

One of the major problems of many professions is that many managers have been scarred by their upbringing and life, and are emotionally incompetent as human beings.

One of the many signs of this is the current mindfulness fad in the management set - including human resources (aka "people and culture"). Mindfulness is one part of the relaxation techniques I learned as a teenager as a prelude to meditation. (Mindfulness is NOT a form of meditation - it is a prelude tool.)

Of course, this is not only, given the patriarchal predominance in many professions, an exclusively male problems - women and other genders also experience the problem. To me, one of the biggest examples of that is thinking that (a) because one part of the body is cold, all the body is uncomfortable (I like my back and legs warmer than the rest of me, and the very first instance one experiences differential temperatures [e.g., sun on one's face] as a child is SUFFICIENT to realise that), and (b) being sad at greyness of winter in the temperate latitudes means one is cold (which is disconnect between body and emotions, apart from other problems).

All of this awareness was something I've had all my life, but was increased by (1) my exploration of Buddhism as a teenager, (2) the personal growth I experienced in a New Age group in the 80s, and (3) the training I had at a phone counselling service.

I have to admit to being overwhelmed by events in my life over the last eight years or so, particularly the last two, so knowing this doesn't mean I always deal with things as well as I should (and the massive demands on my time and energy, plus health issues and ageing don't help), but I do what I can, when I can.

And I've now found a very validating and helpful book - one that supplements and extends what I've worked on all my life. I haven't read much of it yet, but I've skimmed all of it, and, on the strength of that, am prepared to recommend it - especially to managers from older generations, or who believe in suppressing emotions.

The book is:

"The Language of Emotions", by Karla McLaren, pub. Sounds True, Boulder (USA), 2020, ISBN 978-1-59179-897-2 (Amazon)

Please consider.

(I have also published quite a bit on emotions on my main (spirituality) blog - see here, and here.)