We’ve all been told time and time again to hide our emotions away. That they’re too much, unreliable, or just flat out unwanted. Karla McLaren, M.Ed., believes that we should be embracing our emotions and learning how to work with them, not against them. All of our emotions are essential to not only embracing innovation, but understanding the world around us.

In this Q&A with Karla McLaren, award-winning author, educator, workplace consultant, and social science researcher, we learn about how keeping our emotions locked up in the shadows is holding us back. Sign up for the upcoming Honoring Your Emotional Ecosystem Bioneers Learning course to gain insights on the most effective ways to gain a better understanding of your own emotional ecosystem.

Bioneers: Why is Honoring Your Emotional Ecosystem so important for people to learn about right now?

Karla McLaren: Emotions are a part of everything you think, everything you feel, everything you do, and every decision you make. Your emotions are also a vital part of your ability to connect with others, understand your place in the world, communicate, engage, and function in relationships and social groups.

In this time of global upheaval and conflict, learning how to work with your emotions is essential to your own well-being, and to the well-being of the people around you. If you’re doing any sort of social change or environmental work, your emotional and social well-being are vital to your ability to maintain your focus, your grounding, and your vision as you work to bring healing to our waiting world.

Bioneers: What is one publication that you find particularly fascinating about Honoring Your Emotional Ecosystem? Why?

KM: I’m celebrating the 2023 re-release of my revised and updated book, The Language of Emotions. This is the first and only book to explore all of the emotions in one place and help readers learn to identify, value, and work with unique genius in every emotion they have.

Since its original 2010 publication, I’ve become a social science researcher and developed a licensing program in my applied work, which is called Dynamic Emotional Integration®. My colleagues and I have discovered so much about emotions in the last 13 years, and I’m so fortunate to be able to share these updates!

Bioneers: Tell us one great reason why people reading this should sign up for your course?

KM: Our emotions have been in the shadows for many centuries as unwanted, distrusted, and unloved things. If you know about shadow work, however, you’ll remember that the shadow is where the gold resides. It’s where the magic is, and it’s where deep healing can be found.

We’ve been chased away from our emotions for far too long, and the ecosystem of our souls has been damaged by their absence. In this course, we’ll welcome them back to the center of our lives, which is where they were always meant to be.