Written by: Shantinique James, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In today's world, there are always emotional triggers waiting to happen in our lives. We will never be able to escape the stimuli of attractions provided by the outside world. Therefore, it is critical to have a method in which you manage how you respond to life.
Our responses to life stem from the ways we think, feel, and act. How we think, feel, and act are all apart of our life events like relationships, money, material possessions, and so much more. We are in a cycle of consistent responding to life despite if we want to participate or not.
So often, we allow life's circumstances and situations to affect how we feel on the inside. We unconsciously disconnect from our perspectives and intentions. We become mentally, emotionally, and spiritually influenced by the environments and circumstances presented to us. Simply because this world is an energetic playground, and we feel everything. You can agree that this world is a "feeling & thinking" world, right? However, there are a few ways that you can start to develop a sense of mental and emotional stability amid all the craziness.
Here are three tips on how you can start to notice and manage your emotions:
Tip 1: Pay attention to the way you feel
The term "Emotion" is just a word created to help us communicate effectively with one another. When you are in a situation that is causing you to feel negative, you often notice these "feelings" within your body. Some feelings may appear as a stomachache, headache, body twitching, and more. You are the perfect identifier of what the symptoms are for your body.
When you can become aware of your body's natural response, you become consciously aware of those feelings within your body. You are the only one who can identify them because you most likely can identify the things in your life that cause you to feel negative. When those moments present discord, you should bring awareness to the way you are feeling in your body.
Developing self-awareness helps to identify the emotional impact on our health, mental, and behavioral responses. Negative emotions are also indicators of when something is abnormal in your environment. Sometimes, we are triggered emotionally, and we do not verbally speak it. You will begin to acknowledge the feelings within your body. Developing this understanding also helps you notice the things in your external environment that may affect you.
Tip 2: Become aware of the thoughts your thinking
The way that we feel in our bodies is a response to the way we think. When you catch yourself feeling an emotion, it was because of some external situation in your environment. Consider the idea that your circumstance in your external environment was "perceived" by you. The life you've experienced has created a perception of how you view the world. This perception includes people, places, and things. Whenever you notice that you feel an emotion, whether negative or positive, it is because of your perspective. Your perspective causes you to think thoughts associated with the event in your external environment.
You can become aware of the thoughts you are thinking by first noticing the way you feel. Start to become aware of the "thoughts" that cause you to feel negative or positive. You can verbally or inside your head ask yourself questions such as: what just happened to make me feel this way; why do I feel this way about this situation; what thoughts was I thinking to make me feel this way? This may result in a deep psychological understanding of how you feel and how you’ve got to this point in life.
It's important to understand that all thoughts which appear in your head do not have to be true. We must remember that we are creating our life from our perceptions. Sometimes our perceptions are built from viewing the lives of others, media, childhood, and more. Therefore, when assessing your thought's ask yourself, "Is this how I feel?".
Tip 3: Practice time alone (meditate, journal, exercise)
To become more self-aware and notice how you feel, you will need to understand SELF. Life can be so busy that we have no time to explore and discover what we "deeply" want. At the core of every life, the one thing we all have in common is that we at least want to be happy or experience some feeling that feels good to us. What is it that makes you feel this way?
Meditation, journaling, exercising, or whatever activity you can do alone will help the path of finding your true self. When you spend time alone with yourself, you will ask yourself the hard questions. You know yourself better than anyone else, right? Get connected with your body by doing some breathing exercises. Start to care about yourself more than anything you do. If you begin these practices, it is guaranteed you will begin the path to living a more happy, peaceful, and joyful lifestyle.
Shantinique James, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Shantinique James is a Mindset Coach specializing in Emotional Intelligence. She experienced many years of emotional self-destruction which left her living an unhappy and unfulfilled life. Over time she decided to enhance her abilities by learning how to master her emotions through reprogramming her brain. Shantinique has dedicated her life to helping women develop emotional intelligence so they can feel empowered. She is the Founder & CEO of BecomingInnerSelf a company that strives to bring positivity into the world. Shantinique is also the author of "Originated Self: How to Develop Self-Love and Inner Happiness". Her mission is to help as many people find their inner selves so they can live life on their own terms.
