Are your emotions spiralling out of control!

A lot of the time, it’s all too easy not to be aware of them or to know and understand what you’re feeling. 

However, your thoughts and emotions will come and go throughout the day.

 Are you aware of your feelings, and then suddenly overreacted, over a silly little incident at work or home?

Do you need to have more control over your emotions and how to understand them better?

Here are some suggestions that may help you stay in control.

See your emotions as information.

It’s easy to think of emotions as being positive or negative, but it can be helpful to see them merely as information - whether they be good, bad or indifferent.

A feeling is just your body’s way of telling you that something around you needs your attention.

For example, when you hear a sudden loud noise, you feel scared.

You become more alert so you can investigate what’s happening and take action if necessary.

It can be fascinating to think about emotions this way.

Instead of getting wrapped up in what you are feeling, see if you can ask:

‘What information is my body sending me?

What needs my attention right now?’

Listen to your body

You usually view emotions as being in your head, but almost all of them can be felt somewhere in your body.

Just think about the expression, ‘having a heavy heart’, for when someone is sad, or ‘butterflies in the stomach,” for when a person is nervous.

Practise tuning into your body to see if you can work out where you feel different emotions.

For example, you can see if you notice sensations like tightness, heaviness, lightness, tingling or movement.

See if you do things like clenching your jaw, sighing or fidgeting a lot when you have certain feelings.

This can be tricky at first, because you may not be used to thinking about emotions in this way.

But you might start to realise, for example, that when your shoulders become tight or hunched, it’s a sign that you’re worried.

That means, you are becoming more aware of your emotions.

Give your emotion a name,

Neuroscientists, whose area of study includes the brain and emotions, say that when you can label a feeling - be it happy, sad or angry.

 - it loses some of its charges, and you don’t feel so overwhelmed by it.

The next time you notice you’re reacting to something, try to name your emotion.

Don’t worry about getting the perfect word for what you’re feeling - see if you can label what’s happening.

Watch your emotions

Did you know those emotions only last about 90 seconds?

Just like thoughts, they will eventually fade and go away.

If you can, try watching the emotion - noticing what it feels like, what thoughts pop up in your mind, if there are any impulses to do something, how fast or slow the emotion is, and how it fades away.

Identify any triggers or buttons that send you into a frenzy without any further provocation.

When you start to become more aware of your feelings, you create space for yourself to process them.

You can then respond to situations in better ways (instead of overreacting or doing something you might regret later).

It’s an essential skill that helps in all walks of life.

Body language,

Body language is a basic form of non-verbal communication, consider the following emotions, how does it affect your posture.

For example, if they make you frown – consider how you might react to the following emotions.

1.        Happy

2.        Worried

3.        Restless

4.        Disappointed

5.        Excited

6.        Sad

7.        Jealous

8.        Peaceful

9.        Scared

Did you notice how your posture change with each emotion?

Go on, give it another try.

Compare Excitement with sadness.