How do you deal with your emotions/feelings?

Often times just sharing how you feel with others makes a big difference. I find that telling people here on this app how I am feeling sort of releases some of that negativity. I also have made a gratitude list in which I have written down all the positive things about my life and I refer to it whenever I am feeling down or am unhappy with how things are going.

Yeah, I also write gratitude journal. Sometimes I just write out what I know I feel. But recently I started realizing I am full of feelings. Sharing them with people all the time or journaling just doesn't sound reasonable. Maybe I need a job where I constantly experess myself. I am wondering what kind of job can it be...

@SparklyPinkHearts

I've kept a gratitude journal for several years now. I read it every day, and I can see the progress I've made in feeling more positive about my life.

For me I’m always curious about my feelings, where is it from, why I had it, and I don’t judge them. I let myself feel whatever it is feeling. In a way, it makes me love myself more. Because I don’t shame myself for feeling things, just accept it like how it is. It’s okay to feel good, to feel bad, to feel happy, to feel sad.

For me the first step in managing feelings is by identifying them. I downloaded Emotional Wheel and I always try to identify what am I feeling. By identifying them, I can sort of understand where is it coming from and why I had that feeling.

Usually I will journal them out. Sometimes I tried making sense out of it. Sometimes I just let it be. I grew up in an emotionally unavailable family so it took so long for me to realize that I have feelings lmao

At first it was freaking chaotic. Now I love feeling things. I believe there’s no good feeling or bad feelings. Just comfortable and uncomfortable ones. Sitting with my negative emotions are very uncomfortable, but it makes me feel powerful in a way, I’m not affected by my feelings, not reacted out of emotions, just letting it pass through me. Like I made peace with them. And then they will subside. Feelings are temporary. We don’t really have to react or respond to it. Feelings bring message to us. Be curious with what it tries to tell us. Just let them come and go with no judgement :)

I joined the mindfulness group here and learned how to be mindful of many things relating to emotions and use the mindfulness tools always available to us, free, at any time, anywhere :)

Some of my biggest lessons learned in that group:

-it's ok to have negative thoughts/emotions

- everything comes and goes, thoughts/emotions change

- notice when they start, when they end, and let them go

- we are not our thoughts/emotions, we are the witness of them

- whenever I notice a negative thought/emotion coming on, I acknowledge it, lean into it instead of avoiding it or trying to push it away, say hello, greet it, become friends with it (hello anger!), seek to understand it. let it be ok that it's here for a while

- allowing things to be and accepting is the first part. consciously focusing my mind on what I want i the next part. where am I focusing my mind?

Hope to see you in the group meetings/chats Mondays or Thursdays! They're fun :)

@onwardforevenmore

This post helped me so much - thank you for writing this out.

I love the idea of not only being mindful of your emotions, but accepting them as they are ( knowing they will come and go - as emotions do) . And not attaching to them in any form - not running to them or away from them.

and that reminder: we are NOT our thoughts ! <3

@vikafly

I feel that way often, and I like journaling down my thoughts and feelings. It allows me to look at them from a different perspective, and note them down in a tangible way. You can also reach out to a listener if you would like to share your feelings with someone 1-1. Our listeners here are ready to support you any way they can, and validate your feelings in such a unique way. I hope that this helps! 💜

I think we’re all full of feelings, we just aren’t always aware, or we distract ourselves. Some people naturally struggle to identify their feelings, for some it can definitely be improved with practice. It usually helps to start by identifying the sensations in your body. Are your muscles tense, do you feel a knot in your throat, is your breathing tense and shallow or deep and relaxed? From there it’s kind of like being a detective, learning to link what you feel to what has recently happened. It could help to Google a list of common feelings, I’m sure those exist.

Sharing with others can be a good way to practice and get feedback on what you are feeling. So can journaling. You don’t need to share or vent every feeling. Think of it more as a pressure valve, you don’t need to empty out everything. Just make sure they don’t build up too much over time without any release :)

As for freeing your body of emotions, one way is to fully feel them. We often fear doing so because we think it will never end. But we have feelings for a reason, they’re meant to help us find our way. Also it’s said that if you allow feelings to naturally arise, they will usually peak and start to fade within a few minutes. For me, I know that resisting a feeling like sadness or anger just makes me feel worse in the long run, and can lead to anxiety. Just knowing that’s it’s safe to feel can in itself be reassuring.

moving your body can help get out stuck feelings too :) shaking your limbs, punching the air (not too hard, don’t hurt yourself), stretching stiff muscles. Also, breathing exercises where you pay attention to your breath without trying to control it too much.

@vikafly

I've found journaling and prayer to be helpful for me. I've come to the point that therapists look and me and ask why I'm in their office. It's taken 2 years of investing heavily in myself to get to this point. While therapy was part of it, I did a lot of work on my own. I hope you can find a way to transform your negative thoughts/feelings/emotions into positive ones.

@vikafly a lot of great ideas here. Hope some of them help.

Here is the mindfulness video library

https://www.7cups.com/forum/MindfulnessSupportCommunity_106/ResourceLibrary_1062/

Here is the schedule of mindfulness discussions

Hope you find the support you are looking for.

@vikafly

Negative feelings can certainly be hard to manage. And understandably, we come across more of them in our leisure.

Identifying our feelings/emotions are said to be the first step towards managing them. So, maybe this leisure was a blessing in disguise for many.

The next step is to accept it. It's only human to feel. The feelings and emotions do not come up for no reason. And only when we fully accept it, we can see clearly where they came from.

And when we know what caused it, more than half the battle is won.

I have found that journaling with pencil and paper helps me accomplish all these above steps. I hope this or some technique helps you out too.

Tc. You got this 🧡

Drawing before bed actually does wonders for me. I don’t spend as much fine writing and since it’s just for me there’s no pressure to make the drawing good. Sometimes it’s just simple stuff, sometimes not. I do write words too.

@vikafly

I try to focus on my emotions and study what is it trying to tell me. i think of it as messages.

@vikafly

Emotions are tricky and of course the painful and magnetite emotions are put on the back burner for a reason. Learning to navigate is not easy as well. However, just by you reaching out will actually get the ball rolling. It is so brave to let others into your world. With this pain and negative emotions not happening overnight, the healing will be a process as well. You can do this! To heal is your feel, writing in a journal every time a negative emotion comes up, analyzing it and asking yourself questions about it. It’s all about becoming aware. For example, I feel so angry! Wait why do I feel angry? Oh, because I went to the grocery store and that lady cut me in line. Before the store I was at the bank and the ATM was out of order so I had to drive across town to the other bank. It was so annoying. Hmmm, what else made me angry today? Oh, and my stupid cat decided to scratch my face this morning. What about last night? He/she texted me, the ex, wondering how I was, I miss them so much but I know they left for a reason. That makes me so angry. It makes me angry because I feel like it’s my fault, but I know there is nothing I could have done to make them stay. I’m hurt.

So the above example is describing all the little things in which all stemmed from something else, the original source of pain.

I hope this helps:)

Thank you for sharing this, most times when I started having negative feelings I never ask myself what led to it/ trigger it. I just know I’m angry and i end up giving attitude to those around me or just end up being sad.

This should be helpful

Thank you.

@vikafly I write in my journal. It helps me understand what's going on

I don't know how to deal with them. When I was young, no one ever taught me how to properly manage anger, sadness or happiness. I was confronted for each of them, when I was angry I'd get scolded and yelled at, when sad I was never comforted but seen as if I'm victimizing myself. Only time when I was happy, I'd get a bit hyperactive as my life rarely ever had anything exciting happening and even for that, I'd get scolded if I laughed too much. Due to that, I've grown numb to prevent outbursts of emotions I don't know how to manage.. I've been trying to feel properly again for months but it still goes back to this hollow numbing feeling, like I have nothing inside me. Like I'm a dead fossil.

@vikafly

I find that exercising, especially yoga and Zumba helps me feel better, at least temporarily.

@vikafly i deal with my emotions and feelings by spending time with those i care about such as my animals, plants, and boyfriend. i also make time for myself and give myself alone time when i'm feeling too overwhelmed <3

I have never had any close friend or any one to share my feelings or thoughts. From childhood I have dealt with many things on my own. I have parents but they are not always there for me. When needed the most. But, I don't blame them. They have their own problems. So I learnt to deal with all my problems alone. I never depended on any one. Whenever I feel lonely or sad or hurt or any negative emotions. I just listen to good music. In any language. It brings me inner peace and positivity. And I always feel hopeful because of music. That things will become better, bad things will go. And I also write down my feelings and thoughts. It help me clear my mind. I want to become a writer.