Dr. Peter Hercules: My Journey From Medicine to Emotional Fitness

Hi, I’m Dr. Peter Hercules and this is the story of how I went from practicing medicine to founding an Emotional Fitness Institute.

After practicing medicine for more than forty years as a family physician, ER doctor, and behavioral therapist, I have decided to make emotional fitness the prime focus of my professional efforts from now on. For this reason I have established the Vivir Emotional Fitness Institute.

The obvious question is - why? 

Since the earliest days of my medical career, I recognized the profound role that emotional distress plays in medical conditions, both behavioral and physical. I also realized that this issue was essentially ignored and mismanaged by the medical system - and not much has changed since.

I have dedicated a tremendous amount of time and energy to understand emotional distress - what causes it and how to deal with it. My professional experience has enabled me to understand that the actual problem causing the mental health crisis is a generalized lack of emotional fitness. Along the way I’ve also developed a relatively simple, standardized method, which almost anyone can learn, called Emotional Updating. It’s an unconscious mental technique that predictably enhances emotional fitness by addressing the root causes of emotional distress - trauma, reality avoidance, and negativity. By healing the emotional wounds of the past and learning to consistently confront reality and respond positively to it, people can become increasingly emotionally fit.

We are living in extremely challenging times and are not sufficiently emotionally fit to deal with them. Too many people are suffering, and my hope is that by leveraging the Emotional Updating method within the Vivir Institute, we’ll be able make a positive dent in this terrible crisis.

My Beginnings
I started my medical career in 1982 in Canada, immersed in the diverse challenges of small-town family medicine - from surgeries and obstetrics, to housecalls and emergency room shifts. However, it didn't take long to notice a recurring theme: patients struggling with emotional issues, inadequately addressed by conventional treatments.

My medical education had equipped me with the knowledge of how to write prescriptions, but pills fell short of healing the mind. This realization steered me toward a pivotal moment in 1987. An introductory workshop on the use of unconscious mental techniques in healthcare unveiled a new world of possibilities. It was an "aha" moment when I learned that our emotional responses, however puzzling, have logical underpinnings in our past experiences. The concept of delving into the unconscious mind to untangle and reshape these responses was exhilarating.

I returned to my practice with a new mission. While continuing to offer traditional care, I began to integrate simple relaxation techniques, witnessing their beneficial impact on my patients. Yet, my appetite for deeper, lasting change grew. I immersed myself in learning and applying more sophisticated unconscious therapy methods, gradually weaving them into the fabric of my practice. By 1992, this passion had reshaped my career. I transitioned to focusing exclusively on unconscious behavioral therapy, a decision that marked a new chapter in my professional life.

Emotional Updating: Getting To The Root
My exploration of unconscious techniques led to my creation of Emotional Updating, a method that fundamentally altered my approach to medical practice. This technique focuses on understanding and transforming post-traumatic emotional responses, offering a new way of addressing emotional distress.

Emotional Updating works by allowing the unconscious mind to identify past emotional traumas and update the outdated responses that are no longer helpful, allowing people to untrigger themselves from their past trauma. This process is akin to updating old software on a computer; just as outdated programs can hinder a computer’s performance, outdated emotional responses can hinder our ability to function optimally in our daily lives.

As I implemented Emotional Updating in my practice, the impact was immediate and profound. Patients who had struggled for years with emotional burdens began to experience newfound emotional well-being and clarity. This breakthrough not only changed the trajectory of my professional journey but also provided a transformative tool for individuals struggling with deep-seated emotional issues. 

Emotional Fitness For A World In Crisis
Since I first developed Emotional Updating in the late 1980s, I've witnessed the transformation of countless individuals who have battled deep-seated emotional issues such as anxiety, depression, OCD, addiction, and low self-worth. Guiding them through the Emotional Updating technique to release themselves from outdated emotional responses has not only been profoundly rewarding but also illuminative of a broader issue: the collective struggle with emotional fitness throughout society.

Today, we find ourselves facing unprecedented challenges that our current levels of emotional fitness are ill-equipped to manage. Our current emotional fitness crisis is akin to the physical fitness crisis which has led to widespread health issues like obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Similarly, inadequate emotional fitness is contributing to an increase in mental illnesses, psychological disturbances, psychosomatic disorders, and generalized suffering across the population. Too many people are falling through the cracks and many are losing hope. As concerning as these issues truly are, my optimizim for humanity remains intact.

From my perspective - informed by decades of experience helping people reclaim their lives from the grips of emotional distress - every one of us possesses the inherent potential to achieve and maintain emotional fitness. No matter what has happened to us and no matter where we are today, with enough work and dedication, this unprecedented suffering that so many are experiencing can be alleviated. 

The Power of Emotional Fitness
Within Vivir, we define emotional fitness as the ability to consistently have vitality, positivity, resiliency, adaptability, and serenity, regardless of the situation. A tall order, certainly, but throughout my career, my role has been to help unlock this potential in the most troubled of people, focusing on enhancing each person's capacity to adapt their emotional responses effectively.

The key to achieving this emotional fitness is much like attaining physical fitness; it demands dedication, consistent practice, and the right methods. In this light, Emotional Updating acts as physical exercise does for the body—it's a practical tool that helps transform outdated or harmful emotional responses into ones that are healthy and functional.

This technique strengthens individuals, empowering them to meet life's challenges with renewed vigor and adaptability. In my practice, I've seen firsthand how healing trauma and emotional fitness are deeply interconnected. Regular use of the Emotional Updating technique does more than alleviate immediate emotional distress; it builds long-term resilience and stability. It's a process of continual emotional strengthening, essential for thriving in today's challenging world.

Through Emotional Updating, people learn to recalibrate their emotional responses to better match their current realities. This helps them approach new challenges unburdened by past traumas or misconceptions. Over time, this ongoing nurturing of emotional health ensures that individuals are not just getting by day-to-day; they're thriving, equipped to handle life’s challenges with proactive positivity and robust emotional health.

Seeing these transformations occur time and again, and recognizing the broader need for structured emotional fitness support, inspired me to take a more concerted step towards larger scale change.

The Vivir Emotional Fitness Institute
Having recognized the broader implications of emotional distress on society, I decided to found the Vivir Emotional Fitness Institute. This initiative represents a pivotal shift from conventional healthcare frameworks to a more holistic, non-clinical model centered around the principles of Emotional Fitness and the habitual practice of Emotional Updating. 

Our goal at Vivir is to transform lives by cultivating emotional resilience and fitness through Emotional Updating, habitual self-care, and personalized support. We offer a comprehensive program where individuals learn to confront and rewrite their emotional narratives, not just to cope but to thrive.

With our program, we teach participants how to apply Emotional Updating independently, equipping them with the tools and understanding necessary to manage and improve their emotional fitness throughout their lives. This self-sufficiency in managing one's emotional health is a core tenet of our approach, reflecting a commitment to lifelong well-being and autonomy.

Founding the Vivir Emotional Fitness Institute is a reflection of my deep commitment to revolutionizing emotional fitness. The name "Vivir," meaning "to live" in Spanish, encapsulates our mission: to empower as many people as possible to achieve emotional fitness and live their lives to the fullest. By embracing and consistently applying emotional fitness techniques, individuals can transform into their best selves—empowered, serene, and authentically positive. As a result of this transformation, they flourish - becoming increasingly strong, healthy, and full of energy - truly alive.

Reflecting on my journey and the very purpose of Vivir, I’m reminded of a powerful truth that we often share with our clients:

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." - C.S. Lewis

- Dr. Peter Hercules