The Power of Inherited Emotions from Our Ancestors and Peers – and How to Heal for Our Own Wellbeing.
- Jo Moore
- Nov 28, 2025
- 8 min read
Introduction
We often think of ourselves as walking our own path, unburdened by the past. Yet beneath the surface of our behaviour, emotions, and health lies the possibility that we are carrying echoes of our ancestors - and peers - from one generation to the next. These inherited emotional imprints may shape how we respond to stress, how our nervous systems operate, how we feel about ourselves, and even how our bodies function. Understanding the power of these inherited emotions opens the door not only to deep compassion for ourselves but also to intentional healing and transformation.
As novelist and psychoanalyst Thomas Moore once wrote: “We carry within us the stories of our ancestors.” When those stories include unprocessed grief, trauma, shame, or fear, they become part of our emotional legacy. The good news is: we are not doomed by them. With awareness and practices of healing, we can release what no longer serves us and perfect greater wellbeing.
Understanding the power of inherited emotions: what the science reveals
Intergenerational and transgenerational emotional legacy
One of the striking findings in recent decades is that trauma, stress and adversity experienced by one generation may influence subsequent generations - not only through direct family dynamics, but potentially through biological pathways. A review published in World Psychiatry found evidence supporting the idea that offspring are affected by parental trauma exposures even before birth, and possibly in the germline of parents. (PMC)
For instance, research in humans shows that children of survivors of the Holocaust exhibit alterations in stress-hormone regulation and neural responses. (Scientific American) A popular science summary puts it clearly: “Trauma … can leave a chemical mark on a person’s genes, which can then be passed down to future generations.” (HealthCentral)
Research summarising epigenetic markers of trauma shows that DNA methylation patterns (one molecular mechanism) in stress-related genes (such as those regulating the HPA - hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) are altered in the children of those who experienced traumatic events. (Frontiers)
How it works: biology and behaviour
These inherited emotional imprints may function via at least two interacting pathways:
Behavioural / relational transmission: A parent who experienced trauma may carry hyper-vigilance, emotional numbing, reactive patterns, or insecure attachment. Their child, from infancy, absorbs those emotional and relational cues, learns their parents’ coping patterns, and internalises an emotional landscape of anxiety, fear or suppression. (sproutsschools.com)
Biological / epigenetic transmission: The term epigenetics describes how environmental factors (stress, trauma, nutrition, toxins) don’t change the DNA sequence but change how genes are expressed (turned on or off) via chemical tags (methylation, histone modification, non-coding RNAs) and thus influence physiology. (Psych Central) Studies (especially in animals) suggest that trauma exposure prior to conception, during gestation, or early in life may create epigenetic marks that persist into the next generation. (PubMed)
As one article summarises: “The most apparent route runs through parental behaviour … but influences during gestation and even changes in eggs and sperm may also play a role.” (Scientific American) That means our emotional predispositions - our startle-reflex, our hypervigilance, our ease (or difficulty) with trust, our sense of safety in the world - may not be entirely ours, but partially inherited.
Why it matters for wellbeing
Inherited emotions create what we might call emotional landmarks: subconscious predispositions toward certain responses. You might find yourself reacting with anxiety when others don’t, or feeling an instinctive heaviness of grief whose origin you cannot trace. You might carry a body-memory of tension, some generational residue of fear or suppression.
When these emotions are unacknowledged, they can show up as chronic stress, unexplained anxiety, relational difficulty, patterns of burnout, or mental and physical health issues. Because they are inherited, they feel familiar, but they may not serve us; rather, they may keep us stuck in survival or patterned responses that undermine vibrant wellbeing.
Quotes to hold with you
“What you inherit from your ancestors is not only their genes, but also their unresolved emotions.”~ anonymous
“You don’t have to carry what isn’t your own.”~ modern spiritual-psychology saying
These statements speak to the truth that our inherited emotional legacy is not our fault - and we are not powerless in relation to it.
Practical pathways for healing inherited emotional patterns
If we accept that we may carry inherited emotional programming, the next question is:
What can we do to heal it? Here are integrative steps you can weave into your life.
1. Awareness and acknowledgement
Begin by recognising that some emotional patterns may not originate in your personal history alone. Ask yourself:
Do I feel anxious in ways that seem disproportionate or inherited rather than triggered by current life?
Do I repeatedly react in ways that mirror a predecessor (parent, grandparent) though I never consciously chose them?
Do I feel a heaviness, a fear, a response that doesn’t quite make sense given my current environment?
Just bringing awareness is powerful. As researcher Rachel Yehuda (mentioned in the intergenerational trauma review) writes: awareness of these mechanisms is the first step toward transformation. (PMC)
2. Story-working and lineage mapping
Write your emotional genealogy. Who are your ancestors? What historical or familial traumas may they have experienced (war, famine, migration, abuse, loss)? What do you sense you might have inherited from them (fear of scarcity, mistrust of authority, difficulty relaxing, hyper-vigilance)?
Mapping lineage is not about blame but about connecting threads. When you articulate the story, you give it form - and form becomes transformable.
3. Embodied practices to transform inherited emotion
Because inherited emotions affect body and nervous system as much as mind, embodied practices are key:
Mindfulness and body-awareness: Practices that help you observe sensations, emotional currents, and habitual tension. As neuroepigenetics research suggests, bringing awareness helps regulate the nervous system. (Nature)
Somatic release: Using gentle movement, breathwork, and sensory attunement to gently release stored body-memory of ancestral stress. For example, slow walking in nature (which you do) brings the nervous system into safety.
Rituals of release and reclamation: Acknowledge what you carry, then consciously release it (for example, through writing, ceremony, nature immersion) and reclaim what you’d like to inherit instead (peace, safety, trust, creativity).
4. Re-authoring your emotional script
Inherited emotions often show up as repeated scripts: “I must always be vigilant,” “I can’t trust,” “I don’t deserve rest.”You can rewrite them. For example: “I am safe in my body,” “I trust the flow of life,” “I allow rest as a birthright.” Using language intentionally rewires your nervous system. Choose statements that reflect the wellbeing you desire and speak them often - with feeling.
5. Connecting with community and peer healing
Peer networks and generational healing circles help because they break isolation. When we share our emotional inheritance, we shift from suppressing to transforming. Healing inherited emotions is not just individual - it's collective. Engage in group practices, share stories, listen to ancestors’ voices, and you help recode not only your own field but the relational field.
6. Professional support when needed
Some inherited emotional burdens are heavy. If there are patterns of severe anxiety, trauma responses, or relational dysfunction, working with a therapist trained in trauma-informed, somatic, or generational-lineage frameworks can help. Research into epigenetic inheritance emphasises complexity and context; healing often requires multiple approaches. (MDPI)
Integrating a healing ritual: a 5-step mini-practice
Here is a simple ritual you can practice weekly (or when you feel the weight of inherited emotion):
Grounding – Sit or stand outdoors or in a quiet room. Feel the connection of your feet to the earth.
Acknowledge – Silently or aloud say: “I recognise that I carry emotional echoes from my ancestors and my peers that I did not choose.”
Scan – Gently scan your body from feet to head: Where do you feel tension, heaviness, fear, tightness? Name it: “tight chest,” “racing mind,” “cold stomach.”
Release with breath – For each sensation, breathe deeply. On the exhale, imagine the energy of that inherited emotion leaving your body. Say: “I release this fear / I release this mistrust.”
Reclaim – Choose one positive seed you’d rather inherit. For example: “I inherit calm”, “I inherit open trust”, “I inherit embodied ease.” Repeat: “I call this into my system now.” Stay with it for a few breaths.
Over time this ritual becomes a rewiring of your emotional lineage.
Why healing inherited emotions matters for our wellbeing
Emotional freedom. When we release what’s inherited, we regain capacity to feel our authentic emotions rather than relive someone else’s.
Reduced stress and improved nervous system regulation. Because inherited emotional patterns often keep the nervous system in vigilance, healing them supports rest, repair, and resilience.
Better relational health. Fewer re-active patterns, fewer blind spots in our interactions. We are freer to relate from presence rather than from inherited scripts.
Enhanced physical health. Since stress, emotional dysregulation and trauma have strong links to inflammation, HPA-axis dysregulation and chronic illness, translating healing into physical benefits. Studies show childhood trauma and inherited stress correlate with epigenetic changes in genes regulating stress and immune function. (Frontiers)
Liberation of potential. When we are no longer held by the weight of the past, we become available for growth, creativity, wholeness—what some call perfecting our own wellbeing.
Quotes to anchor your journey
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” - William Faulkner
“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors - we borrow it from our children.” - Chief Seattle
Some caveats: nuance and humility
It’s important to hold the idea of inherited emotions with both curiosity and humility. Some researchers caution that while epigenetic inheritance of trauma is a fascinating possibility, the human evidence is still relatively limited and complex. (Verywell Health) Many factors – genetics, environment, culture, behaviour – combine in ways we’re only beginning to understand. That said, whether or not a specific emotional pattern is inherited biologically or is purely behavioural, the practices of awareness, ritual, community and healing stand as valid and effective. You are not required to prove ancestry; you only need to notice your experience and choose something new.
Final reflections: transforming our legacy
When you step into your walking holidays, lead nature-therapy groups, guide someone through grief or help with a nature reset, remember: you carry not just your own story, but a multi-generational story. By honouring that you may be influenced by ancestral or peer emotional legacies, you step into greater responsibility and possibility.
As you walk the trails of the mind and the body - whether in forest, mountain or coastal path - imagine you are also walking the trails of your lineage. With each mindful step, each noticing of emotion, each ritual of release, you are reclaiming your freedom.
Let this be your declaration: I feel the echoes of what came before. I acknowledge them. I am not bound by them. I choose healing. I choose wellbeing. And I walk into the fullness of my own life, free, whole, connected.
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References for further reading
Yehuda R, Lehrner A. Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. World Psychiatry. 2018;17(3):243–257. (PMC)
Plantier N, etc. “Mechanisms of Epigenetic Inheritance in Post-Traumatic Stress.” Life. 2023. (MDPI)
Emerging trends in epigenetic and childhood trauma: bibliometrics and visual analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2022. (Frontiers)
Understanding epigenetics: how trauma is passed on through our family members. ArkAdvocate (popular summary). (Arkansas Advocate)
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