Open vs. Closed Energetic Loops: A Core Mechanism of Stored Charge, Trigger Reactivity, and Emotional Resolution

Author: Janell Rae, Energy Healer & Founder of the Energy Intelligence Method™

Why Some Emotional Reactions Feel Bigger Than the Moment

Have you ever reacted to something and thought,

“Why did that hit me so hard?”

Maybe it was a comment that lingered.

A situation that flipped a switch.

A moment that felt oddly familiar—emotionally intense in a way that didn’t quite match

what just happened.

Most people assume those reactions are about the present moment.

Often, they’re not.

When the Present Touches Something Older

Emotional reactions don’t always come from what’s happening now.

Sometimes they come from what the moment touches inside us.

The nervous system is designed to protect.

When it encounters something that feels familiar—even subtly—it responds quickly,

before the mind has time to sort out whether the situation is actually dangerous,

personal, or important.

That’s why:

• small moments can trigger strong emotions

• reactions can feel automatic or confusing

• we can “know better” and still react

The response isn’t random.

It’s patterned.

The Body Remembers What the Mind Moved Past

We tend to think memory lives in stories—things we can recall and explain.

But many experiences are remembered without words.

They’re stored as:

• sensations

• tension

• reflexive responses

• emotional charge

Especially when something happened during a time when expression wasn’t safe,

allowed, or possible.

The body adapts in order to get through the moment.

That adaptation can last long after the situation itself has passed.

Why Insight Alone Doesn’t Always Change the Reaction

Many people feel frustrated because they understand their patterns.

They know where something comes from.

They’ve reflected.

They’ve worked on themselves.

And yet—the reaction still shows up.

That doesn’t mean the work failed.

It usually means the understanding happened at the level of the mind, while the

reaction lives at the level of the nervous system and body.

The system isn’t responding to logic.

It’s responding to stored experience.

What Triggers Are Really Pointing To

A trigger isn’t a sign that something is wrong with you.

It’s information.

It points to:

• where you once adapted instead of expressed

• where something stayed unresolved

• where the system learned to stay alert

In that sense, triggers aren’t setbacks.

They’re invitations—signals that something is ready to shift.

Calm Isn’t Forced — It Emerges

Lasting calm doesn’t come from trying harder to regulate or suppress reactions.

It comes when the system no longer needs to react.

When old charge dissolves, responses naturally soften.

Clarity returns without effort.

Boundaries feel clearer.

Choices feel more available.

Not because you’re controlling yourself—

but because there’s less to manage.

A Deeper Look

For those who want a more detailed explanation of this process—including how

emotional patterns form, repeat, and resolve—Janell Rae explores this in depth in an

academic article on open and closed emotional loops.

It’s a framework that brings together psychology, somatic awareness, and energy work

to explain why some experiences resolve naturally while others remain active for years.

Read the full article here:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17992786

Sometimes healing isn’t about becoming someone new.

It’s about releasing what your system no longer needs to carry.

And often, the first step is simply understanding why the reaction was there in the first

place.

This article is part of a broader body of work related to the Energy Intelligence Method™ developed by Janell Rae.