Taking my adolescent and teen daughters to watch the new “Inside Out 2” movie, the best I had hoped for was an insight into the workings of their young, impressionable minds. What I found, however, was a film that not only pulled at my soul-strings but was also a brilliant caricaturization of how emotions structure thought, behavior, and action. And how, in so doing, emotions pattern our belief systems and social lives.
A disclaimer upfront: The purpose of this blog is to offer folks using neuroplasticity tools to improve their well-being connections and visualizations that echo their re-origin practices. I am not a neuroscientist and am not equipped to comment on the accuracy of the film’s portrayal of emotion science and how the brain works. However, as a re-origin member with the lived experience of using neuroplasticity-based tools to manage stress and improve my well-being, I found much alignment between the movie and the re-origin approach. It is this alignment that I will focus on below.
The Science of Emotions
Emotion science takes center stage in “Inside Out 2,” showcasing how our feelings influence our actions and beliefs. The film explores how certain emotions from the first movie, like joy and sadness, interplay with new emotions like anxiety, embarrassment, ennui, and envy. All of these emotions initially challenge Riley’s ability to cope with life’s challenges. Pixar illustrates the intricate balance between different emotions in Riley’s mind, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and understanding our feelings to navigate the world effectively.
“Inside Out 2” offers valuable life lessons for young people and parents alike. As Riley faces typical teenage challenges, the film highlights the importance of understanding and managing emotions. It shows how emotions like anxiety and embarrassment, often viewed negatively, can actually be crucial for personal growth and resilience. Through Riley’s journey, viewers learn that all emotions, even anxiety, embarrassment, and envy, play essential roles in shaping who we are.
Emotions, Beliefs, and Physical Reactions
Most pertinent to the re-origin approach is the movie’s portrayal of how experiences with strong emotions form our belief system, how the strongest (most frequently repeated) beliefs (narratives) become core beliefs, and how these, in turn, come together to build a sense of self.
Riley’s Story: The Plot of “Inside Out 2”
At the outset, “Inside Out 2” is the story of 13-year-old Riley, who is moving to High School. It features the usual suspects involved in typical transitions to teenage: self-consciousness, fear of losing friends, uncertainties of fitting in with new kids, and performance pressures. Besought with these new fears, insecurities, and pressures, “Anxiety” takes over Riley’s brain. She locks up Riley’s other emotions (joy, sadness, rage, etc.) and floods the girl with rumination and catastrophizing to “protect” her from failing in the future.
The makers of “Inside Out 2” then show us the seamless transition of these anxious thoughts into uncomfortable physical reactions, actions, and behaviors. Repeated and uninterrupted rumination and catastrophizing in Riley’s brain then produce changes in her belief system, her core beliefs, and her sense of self. While her earlier empowered sense of self (tended by Joy, previously in charge but now locked up) was made up of core beliefs like “I’m a good friend,” “I am a hard worker,” and “I’m a good person,” her new anxious narrative becomes “I am not good enough.”
This new disempowering narrative negatively affects not only Riley’s mood, behavior, and social life but also her physical performance and well-being.
How Riley’s Story Pertains to the re-origin Experience
Most folks in the re-origin community can probably relate to this deeply and immediately. I certainly could. Perhaps this alignment was why experiencing this connection in an animated form was so incredible. I now had colorful visuals helping me locate and imagine the work I was doing via my daily practices. The practices we use at re-origin on a daily basis and the emphasis and commitment with which we repeat them are based on precisely this fundamental understanding. Through its illustrations of how uninterrupted catastrophizing produces disempowering core beliefs, “Inside Out 2” also helped me realize how repeatedly interrupting disempowering narratives can change core beliefs.
Making Room for All Emotions
Towards the end of the movie, anxiety realizes that she isn’t helping Riley by monopolizing her brain. Distraught, she gives up control and confesses to the other emotions that she “was only trying to help.” The other emotions accept anxiety as an important emotion (who is given a comfortable chair to sit on and relax on most occasions). The film concludes with all emotions making room for each other and giving each other turns at shaping Riley’s actions, behaviors, physical reactions, and social life.
This release of control shown in the film mirrors the pattern interruption that we practice at re-origin. It also echoes what many of us call “acceptance” and is illustrative of the form of “resilience” that we aim to achieve where we allow ourselves to experience any and all emotions that come up. Our emotions are part of us, and all of our emotions – fear, anger, and anxiety included – are important and need to be felt.
We do not need joy to be in charge all the time, and indeed an attempt at this might be counterproductive, as the first “Inside Out” movie depicted so captivatingly. In this original film, sadness, once acknowledged and allowed to express herself, helped Riley release her pent-up emotions, opening her up to experiencing joy again. However, the activation of core beliefs/narratives while releasing clamor for control over emotions being experienced remains a choice: and it is making this choice repeatedly over time that builds our core beliefs and our sense of self.
In a world where emotions often dictate our actions, “Inside Out 2” reminds us of the importance of understanding and embracing all our feelings. From joy to fear, anxiety to embarrassment, each emotion contributes to the rich tapestry of our inner lives, helping us navigate the complexities of the world with empathy and self-awareness.
Transferrable Tools from “Inside Out 2”
The film has several other tools that could be of use to the re-origin community, especially in relation to visualization as well as awareness of what’s happening (becoming a curious observer). For instance:
- The selection of a memory with a high emotional charge
- Stream of consciousness (this can be a really cool visual aid towards embodying “the curious observer” perspective)
- Recall tube (which transports memories from long-term storage to “headquarters,” from where the memory is brought to Riley’s conscious attention by the relevant emotion)
- Long-term memory (where memories coded by emotion type are stored)
The Power of Emotions through “Inside Out 2”
In a world where emotions often dictate our actions, “Inside Out 2” reminds us of the importance of understanding and embracing all our feelings. From joy to fear, anxiety to embarrassment, each emotion contributes to the rich tapestry of our inner lives, helping us navigate the complexities of the world with empathy and self-awareness.
