It’s very likely that you have experienced stresses in your life and you’re not alone. External stressors are present every day and although most of them are out of our control, we do have control over how we respond to them. Emotion Management is the skill of being aware and being able to constructively handle our emotions, both positive and challenging. By changing the way in which we deal with things, or at least the perspective in which we look at them, we give ourselves the opportunity to manage our health and recognise that we are in control of our own stress levels.
Some ways we can manage our emotions:
- Label the emotion. Just by saying “I feel angry” you actually bring the intensity of that feeling down.
- Park it, don’t ignore it. Rather than just avoiding the emotion, acknowledge and accept how it feels and use your emotional intelligence to help generate a more useful one.
- Talk. It helps lighten the load. By voicing how you feel or what has caused it, you will feel it lift off your shoulder.
- Move your body. Step away from the stress, go for a walk, dance around the kitchen and do jumping jacks. However, if you like to move your body, move it. This will tell your brain you are happy and will make you feel better.
- Breath – Our body cannot sustain anger through deep breathing. Flood those lungs with oxygen. Just 60 seconds of deep breathing could change your whole day.