There is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert. Such a person would be in the lunatic asylum. —Carl G. Jung
What are your thoughts? Personally I’ve never subscribed to the whole concept of whether I am an introvert or an extrovert, as I often swing between both, so it didn’t really make sense to me.
Recent examples from my clinic suggest that introvert type behaviours are closely connected to deeply held emotions. These emotions disturb or shut down areas of our major energy system, the Chakra System, which is responsible for bringing to us the life force energy that invigorate our physical body.
JESSIE’S STORY
Jessie arrived in my clinic with a struggle showing up in her business that had been bothering her for a while. “I struggle with expressing myself and, I can’t seem to attract the money I need. I know my product is great, I know that my mindset is great, but I just can’t make things work. I struggle with my marketing messages – I just can’t get my head around it. I don’t mind putting myself out there. I’ve been told I’m an introvert but I don’t always feel like one.”
As our session got underway and I was able to listen into Jessie’s innate wisdom tell the story of her struggles it was quite a surprise to her as she hadn’t considered that it was a problem in her life. She hadn’t made the connections. Her mother had not breastfed her. She was the middle of a large family so didn’t get a lot of close attention either. That meant not a lot of contact at a vulnerable age when the suckling reflex enables the infant to form a secure bond with mother.
This type of event creates and stores an emotional memory in the infant. The infant experiences it as a deep felt sense of insecurity, one that they are unable to do anything about. For this reason, it is often intensified through a sense of powerlessness.
In my Practice we call this emotional memory an Active Memory. Active, because it has an active consequence experienced much later than the original event.
So for Jessie, 2 issues immediately became clear:
She was unable to create a secure bond with her mother, and
She was unable to activate the throat chakra through the close secure contact with her upper body, that breastfeeding would provide.
Additionally, the inability to feel secure will undermine her ability to express herself confidently.
THIS EMOTION CONTRACTS THE LIFE FORCE ENERGY
This emotional memory disrupted the base chakra energies, which an infant is able to access most actively immediately from birth until about 7 years of age.
The experiences of base energies give us a sense of how easy it is to obtain security and stability, usually as a consequence of the careful attendance of our primary care-givers. We naturally develop a confidence in our ability to attract what we need, and know it will come to use as we need it.
This emotional memory disrupted these base chakra energies, and undermined Jessie’s ability to feel secure in her capacity to bring in enough money to support herself.
This emotion was also reflected in her throat chakra energies - the throat chakra energies govern the neck, shoulders, mouth and jaw, and self-expression. Jessie did not have the opportunity to sufficiently activate the throat chakra, an opportunity that breast-feeding would have afforded her.
Added to that, the insecurity that she experienced from not bonding well with her mother further undermined her ability to communicate confidently. Her self-expression was undermined.
When the chakra energies are contracted, there is limited life force energy available to the body. This in turn creates a personality type that requires more time, and preferably alone time to recharge.
Overtime, as the person struggles to be able to express him or herself, they have a tendency to withdraw and prefer the company of those they are familiar with rather than being outgoing and meeting new people.
THE RESEARCH CONCURS
Some of the research into personality types suggests that introverts seem to need to recharge by spending time alone. They lose energy when spending time with people, and particularly avoid large crowds. They have a tendency to prefer the company of close friends and family and struggle with new people or strangers in their environment.
Other research suggests that it’s genetics that are the reason that some people have introvert tendencies and others, extrovert tendencies. However we now know that our genetics are not a life sentence, the expression of our genes is changeable not fixed. More on introverts here.
Energy medicine suggests that both introvert and extrovert behaviours are disruptions to the natural flow of energy through the throat chakra. From my clinic experience, I would agree.
DEEP EMOTIONS – WE ALL HAVE THEM
Often we are not aware of these deep emotions, even though they are triggering and causing our inability to function as well as we would like. We get used to functioning sub-optimally and either accept it as normal, “I am an introvert”, or wonder what’s wrong with us.
Fortunately for Jessie she was sufficiently driven to seek help when she felt that things should be better than they were. With those memories released, Jessie will experience a whole new aspect of her personality that she hadn’t thought possible.
NOTE: For confidentially purposes, my clients name and some details have been altered.
Hi, I'm Josie, I'm an Inner Stability Mentor and Certified BodyTalk Practitioner primarily working with Profession and Business Women leading change. I listen to the stories your body has to reveal about the many emotional events that lodge themselves in your energy system and interfere with your ability to reach your potential. These events may not stand out as significant, having long since been forgotten, but not by your body.
If you would like to know more about this type of deep emotion releasing and healing read more there.