Sometimes in personal development, we want to just move past the bad emotions, but it's important to acknowledge all of them.
You see, there will always be a variety of emotions we face at any given time. So noticing which emotions are which when they arise, why they’re happening, and how to move through them can work to elevate you energetically.
So here are the three primary steps to identifying and managing your emotions:
#1: Identify & Acknowledge
A: First and foremost, you must simply identify the feeling or emotion that you're in. This is essentially acknowledging that you're having "a moment."
Feelings are the physical response to an emotion. For example, you may feel your heart racing when you're angry. So you can work to identify this by checking in with your body and observing any physical sensations you may be having.
While emotions are the thoughts and stories we tell ourselves about our feelings. So if you're feeling anger, you may be thinking, "this is unfair," or "I can't believe he/she did that to me."
Once you've identified the feeling and/or emotion, label it! And this can be done by labeling the feeling with a word or phrase. For example, "I'm feeling frustrated" or "I feel anger welling up inside of me."
Understand that by first identifying and coming face to face with your emotions, you are making a path toward healing so that you're able to navigate emotions like this if they come up in the future.
Instead of trying to push the emotion away, embrace it as an opportunity for reflection. Understand that this emotion is happening for a reason. This will help you to become more aware of your emotions overall and allow you to better manage them.
B: Once you've identified what's happening, it's time to understand why you're feeling that emotion. This can be done by asking yourself some questions such as:
"What triggered this feeling?" or
"What story am I telling myself about this feeling?"
When you know the cause, it can be helpful to ask yourself if there's anything you can do to change the situation. And if not, that's OK too. And once you've identified the reason for the feeling, you can then begin to work on managing it.
#2: Manage The Emotion
When you're experiencing an emotion, especially one that feels foreign or unfamiliar, the next crucial step is to manage the emotion (in the moment!) in a way that works for you.
It's important to find an outlet that allows you to process the feeling in a healthy way. This is the key to not allowing the emotion to lower your energetic frequency.
A: One way to manage emotions is through journaling about them. This can be a helpful way to get out all the thoughts and feelings you're experiencing at that moment. It can also be a way to track your progress over time and see how you're feeling today compared to yesterday or last week.
B: Another way to manage emotions is by talking to a friend or therapist. This can be helpful because it allows you to share your feeling with someone who will understand and can offer helpful advice or support.
C: Practicing breathing exercises is also a great way to manage emotions. This can help to calm the body and mind and allow you to better deal with the feeling.
Because after first identifying the emotion, it's important not to rush anything. Taking time to breathe allows oxygen to flow healthily to the brain, allowing you a better opportunity to reflect with clarity.
Repeating a simple breathing exercise like the following can help you feel calmer and collected in the moment:
- Inhale for 4 counts
- Hold your breath for 4 counts
- And then exhale for 4 counts
D: Going for a walk is another great way to manage emotions in the moment. This can be helpful because it allows you to get out of your head and clear your mind. Walking can also be a form of exercise, which has been shown to improve mental health.
#3: Elevate Your Energy
And it's this step when you'll choose how you'll respond to experiencing the emotion. Understand that even though we experience different emotions in our lives, we still have full control over how we choose to respond.
Every feeling or emotion exists on a spectrum. At one end of the spectrum is the feeling itself, and at the other is the opposite feeling. For example, if you're feeling sad, the opposite feeling would be happiness.
In between those two extremes is a range of emotions that make up the spectrum. It's important to understand that we can move along that spectrum at any given time.
So, if you're feeling sad, you can choose to move towards happiness. Or, if you're feeling angry, you can choose to move towards forgiveness. The choice is always yours.
Choosing to move towards the opposite feeling will help to elevate your energy. This is because you're making a conscious decision to react positively rather than letting the feeling control you.
Doing things that make you happy can help to improve your mood and increase your overall feeling of well-being. This can be done by focusing on positive thoughts or thinking about things that make you happy. This might be reading, going for a walk, meditating, or listening to music.
So it's important to find something that works for you and that you can do regularly.
Because at the end of the day, managing your emotions doesn't mean suppressing them or pretending they don't exist. It means acknowledging them, understanding where they come from, and then choosing how to respond to them, so you can move forward in life feeling empowered!
And speaking of empowerment, it’s important to make sure that you are doing everything you can do along your personal development journey to go about life with clarity. And unfortunately, when our chakras are blocked, this can prevent us from clearly managing our emotions in the right way.
That’s why I encourage you to take my FREE quiz to help you determine which of your seven chakras is blocked. This is going to be a powerful way to help you uncover what needs to be worked on in your life. So go here now to take this quick (and eye-opening!) quiz and get ready to see all that’s been blocking your journey so far!
