Are You Really Aware of Your Feelings and Emotions?

True and Interesting Fact:  The average human has about 6 thousand thoughts a day, many of which are repeating thoughts.

PsychCentral suggests that we want to be aware of what we tell ourselves so that we —rather than our emotions—direct our choices.  They also reveal that cognitive abilities do not fully develop until the mid-20’s.

So why is it so important to keep our emotions under control? Well, they say that our thoughts activate emotion driven processes within us, which includes negative as well as positives reactions.

So how can we control our feelings and emotional awareness?   The first thing to recognize is that events and people’s actions may trigger unpleasant feelings and reactions, but they do not cause them.   What causes our painful feelings is what we tell ourselves about those situations.

Our feelings are indicators, according to this article, of when we are off track in relation to where we want to be (i.e. our goals/visions).  It is important for us to be in-tune with our painful and unpleasant emotions such as anger, guilt, shame, hurt and anxiety because they provide information that pleasant emotions cannot.

Here are 6 steps to help you understand and process your emotions:

1.  Select a triggering situation to process.

2.  Identify and feel your emotions and feelings.

3.  Feel and notice the location of any sensations in your body.

4.  Accept your feelings, and be confident that you can handle the emotion(s) and sensations.

5.  Identify what you tell yourself in your mind that is triggering any painful emotions.

6.  Connect empathically to understand and validate your experience.