Your Practical Guide to Managing Emotions
Emotions are a natural and essential part of being human. At times they can be challenging and learning to navigate them can sometimes be difficult.
Understanding Emotions:
Just as the ocean is constantly changing, so too are our emotions. They can be triggered by external events, internal thoughts, or past experiences, and they play a crucial role in how we perceive and interact with the world around us. Ex: imagine you're at work, and your boss criticizes your performance in front of your colleagues. Your heart races, your palms sweat, and you feel a surge of embarrassment and anger. In this moment, you're experiencing the power of emotions – they can be intense and overwhelming, but they also hold valuable information about your inner state.
Learning to navigate and manage emotions starts at early childhood. Unfortunately however many of us did not learn that skill. Our parents might not have had the capacity to teach us especially if they were unaware of how to address their own emotions healthily or if they avoided them altogether. Consequently, we learned from their examples. As a result, managing emotions becomes challenging in adulthood. We often avoid unpleasant feelings or numb them with alcohol, food, or substances. This behaviour may stem from early childhood experiences where expressing emotions wasn't safe and could result in punishment or neglect. Such experiences can significantly impact our relationships and how we relate to ourselves.
The Power of Awareness:
Now, let's imagine you're at home, feeling overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. Instead of ignoring these feelings or getting swept away by them, you take a moment to pause and breathe deeply. You acknowledge your emotions with kindness and curiosity, exploring where they're coming from and how they're impacting you. Pay attention to how you are feeling throughout the day, noticing the subtle shifts and changes in your mood. Are you feeling happy, sad, angry, or anxious? By tuning into your emotions, you gain insight into your inner world, allowing you to respond to them with greater mindfulness and intention.
Practicing Self-Compassion:
Managing emotions isn't about suppressing or ignoring them; it's about acknowledging and validating them with compassion. Treat yourself with the same kindness and understanding you would offer to a friend experiencing distress. Remember, it's okay to feel whatever you're feeling – you're human, after all. Set yourself some space and time to feel those emotions, allowing them to move through you.
Cultivating Emotional Resilience
Now, let's say you're faced with a setback at work – perhaps you didn't get the promotion you were hoping for. You feel disappointed and discouraged, but you refuse to let this setback define you. Instead, you tap into your inner resilience, reminding yourself of past challenges you've overcome and the lessons you've learned along the way. With each setback, you emerge stronger and more resilient than before.
Seeking Support:
If there are repetitive emotions come up frequently you would probably want to find out the underlying cause and find solution to resolve them rather than continually reliving and experiencing those emotions. This is where seeking professional help can be extremely valuable. Remember, you don't have to navigate the emotional challenges alone. Reach out to friends, family, or a trusted therapist for support when you need it. Talking about your feelings can help you gain perspective, insight, and find comfort in knowing that you're not alone in your struggles.
Managing emotions is a lifelong journey, filled with ups and downs. By cultivating awareness, practicing self-compassion, and building emotional resilience, you empower yourself to navigate through difficult feelings.