In recent decades, there is so much talk on psychological well-being and emotional wellness. 

And why should not people bother about them? 

After all, both play significant role in improving quality of life in terms of satisfaction, self-awareness or simply being happy. 

Yes, emotional well-being is an integral aspect of overall wellness. There is no denial that one valuable thing that we all need to cultivate in life is emotional wellness. 

Yet, for many of us, the question is why to stay in harmony with our emotions remains open. 

Let’s start by understanding what emotions truly are? 

Scientifically, the emotion is a specific feeling in the mind that stimulates other mental abilities for their actions to be performed to pursue a specific goal.

What did we mean by this?

Let’s take an example of emotion ‘happiness’. 

When we have a sense of happiness, the life appears good to us. And to make this life even more beautiful, we engage ourselves in purposeful activities. 

For instance, when we get appreciated for our work, the sense of happiness motivate us to learn new skills, enhance professional connections, and give our best at our workplace. This further inspire us to cultivate good relationship with friends and family and bring harmony in our social circle.

On the contrary, when we are sad, the life seems boring and worthless. We lack the enthusiasm to give our best or even drag ourselves towards unhealthy behavior. 

For instance, when you are unemployed, the feeling of sadness creates anxiety about future and life starts to appear meaningless and worthless.

Does this sounds familiar to you ?

Yes, our emotions determine our actions that subsequently decide our behavior. And that is why staying in tune with our emotional wellness is very much important. 

Also Check : Impact Of Emotions On Human Behaviour

Until now, an importance has been given only to physical health of an individual. Adopting a good lifestyle is always considered as a basic practice for healthy living. 

And absolutely there is nothing wrong in doing so. 

But now it’s a time to think about emotional wellness too.  

Understanding our feelings

In the journey of emotional wellness, the first thing we need is to identify the type of emotion we are experiencing at a given time. 

But how can we do this? 

The answer is simple. 

By paying attention to our thoughts and feelings.  

If we are thinking constructively and feeling cheerful, then definitely we are experiencing positive emotions. But if we have fearful thoughts and feeling sad, we are becoming a victim of negative ones.

As the positive emotions deal with enthusiasm, we head towards in the direction of growth and prosperity. 

So, now the problem left is only with negative ones. It’s perfectly normal to experience some emotional overwhelm, especially when situations are uncertain or challenging. 

But how much is too much?

Well, if our negative thought pattern is terribly affecting our daily activities of living that means we seriously need to take control over our emotions.

Being in touch with our feelings gives us an opportunity to manage them effectively.

Also Check : Navigating A World Of Emotions

Emotional regulation is the key, not repression

From our childhood, we are taught to hide our negative feelings. We are afraid to express us just by thinking that society may consider us as weak. We always choose silence to keep a situation under a wrap. 

But this habit of bottling-up unpleasant feelings prove detrimental to our mental health. This emotional baggage weighs us down and holds us back. And when we fail to take control over the situation, the unhealthy feelings spill out in an uncomfortable way.

Expressing our negative emotions in healthy ways doesn’t always come naturally. We need to learn this art that takes practice and dedication.

In doing so, the first thing is first i.e., accepting our emotions. When we accept the reality of the situation, we move away from the state of denial. Moreover, accepting emotions as they come make us more comfortable with the situation also.

For instance, during challenging moments of life, it is better to accept the fact that our current situation is not good and that’s why we are experiencing sadness, fear and anxiety.

This is followed by the step number two i.e, expressing our emotions in healthy ways. We can either share them with our trusted friend or family member. We can even write down all our thoughts to uncover any disruptive pattern.  This will maintain the privacy of the situation too.

It is important to remember that if we want to feel better then we need to express ourselves in a healthy way.  

But do you think just expressing our emotions is sufficient for our growth? 

Yes, we need something more.

And what is that?

Emotional wellness is just more than expression

A sense of emotional wellness is rather a broad term. Apart from emotional expression, it encompasses a lot of things such as cultivating optimism, gratitude, forgiveness, self-awareness and assertiveness.

We need to count our success more than failures. We need to be appreciative of what we have rather than complaining of what we don’t have. It’s time to forgive people and ourselves too. It’s time to identify our own core values and pursue a life of purpose.

In short, we need to focus more on positive aspect of our life compared to negative ones.

Being emotionally resilient doesn’t necessarily mean that we are not going to face challenges, but rather, it gives us the power to deal or cope with adversity in a healthy way.

Being emotionally well motivates us to stay in the present moment, without looking back too much into the past or future. 

Disclaimer

Mediclin Brain Health’s content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.