5 Steps to Better Emotional Wellness
Itās never been a more important time to prioritize emotional wellness.
The National Center For Emotional Wellness defines emotional wellness as "an awareness, understanding, and acceptance of our feelings, and our ability to manage effectively through challenges and change."
Learning more about emotional wellness is crucial as many misconceptions currently fog our judgment around emotions. Many of us believe the goal is about ānot having feelingsā but rather learning what to do with them.Ā Ā
Emotions are one of the fastest forms of communication between our body and mind. When something happens, or someone says something, we often immediately feel our body communicating via emotion.
The best leaders and communicators understand the importance of upgrading emotional wellness to improve any situation and stress levels.Ā
Master emotional wellness with these five key steps.
1. Create a Regular Meditation Routine
Picking up a meditation practice might improve your emotional wellness.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the emotional benefits of meditation include:
- Increasing self-awareness
- Making it easier to be present
- Gaining a new perspective
- Reducing overwhelming negative emotions
- Helping build skills to reduce stress
Many forms of meditation exist, ranging from 5 minutes to 20 minutes a day. Consider taking a meditation course, training, or working with a teacher for the best results.Ā
Itās crucial to mention meditation is a challenging exercise for the brain. It takes time to get used to it and expect some level of difficulty when beginning and rest assured itās completely normal. Stick with it, and you will see results.
2. Improve Emotional Wellness By Moving!
We often donāt realize emotions are a form of energy.Ā
Whatās one of the best ways to release energy? Moving your body.
This method is beneficial because you donāt have to do anything extreme. You donāt have to run a marathon or spend hours sweating at the gym to get these benefits.
Move to Improve Emotional Wellness via:
- Going for a walk by yourself or with a friend
- Stretching or practicing yoga
- Dancing while listening to music
- Put on the running shoes and go for a jog
Emotions are energy; move to let go of that energy and watch your emotional perspective change. Keep in mind; it often takes regularly scheduled exercise to see a long-term shift in your emotional health.
3. Use Creativity to Express Emotions
Believe it or not, many of our best ideas come from emotions.Ā
Next time you feel emotionally heavy, consider using it as an opportunity to be creative. Emotions are a quick form of communication, and creativity often requires moving fast to connect the dots to more significant ideas.Ā
Creative activities like, but not limited to:
- Writing or journaling
- Drawing, doodling, or painting
- Create poetry or spoken word
- Sing or play music
Havenāt practiced your creativity muscle? No problem. Keep an open, curious mind and give yourself the benefit of the doubt when trying out some of these new creative habits.
4. Connect with Your Inner ChildĀ
Emotions are a close link to your inner child, which means your fixed perspective of what you learned as a child before becoming an adult.Ā
Itās essential to connect with your inner child because, as adults, itās much easier to fall into patterns of stress, lack of enjoyment, and not connecting with your purpose than a child.
Ways to connect with your inner child:
- Do things you used to enjoy
- Watch your favorite old movies and music
- Revisit childhood memories via pictures or conversations
- Spend your time unscheduled openly
- Journaling and being curious about your inner child
Donāt let judgment, other peopleās opinions, and negative criticisms stop you from connecting with your inner child. As adults, we often believe we must act in a certain way, and if we donāt, itās childish or immature. As long as you are being respective, safe, and not harming anyone, including yourself, itās essential to shut off these thoughts that might prevent you from practicing some of these inner child techniques.
5. Affirmations to Help Guide Emotions
Affirmations are a valuable tool to help guide our emotions and focus.Ā
Many think standing in front of a mirror and repeating sayings out loud to ourselves for us to believe is silly, not helpful, and unproductive. However, this is not necessarily true. The goal of saying affirmations is to help your mind focus on the objective.
Emotions or thoughts sometimes cloud our current perspective, and affirmations are a tool we can use to guide and shift back our viewpoint positively and healthily.Ā
Try experimenting with these affirmations:Ā
- I am not my emotions.
- I can handle any situation positively.Ā
- I work with my emotions together like weāre on the same team.
- I am the one who chooses my emotions.
- I am not my negative thoughts and feelings.Ā
If it seems strange to repeat these affirmations, try making your own that resonate deeply with you. If you donāt feel like doing it, consider doing it anyway, as sometimes our feelings are delayed but can catch up later based on actions and thoughts.
Often, if you can focus on something long enough, you will subsequently believe and feel it. Working on these critical steps each day or as consistently as possible will lead to a life of proper emotional wellness.
Donāt give up; try these habits often, and find what works best for you. Keep in mind; it takes time to see what techniques help your emotional wellness most sustainably.
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Conclusion
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