What is Emotional Regulation?
It is understanding emotions and recognizing the nature of feelings in order to be able to control them, and the ability to make and regulate decisions in a way that helps achieve desired goals. It positively affects communication with oneself and others.
Benefits of Emotional Regulation
Reaching the ability to control your emotions gives you the opportunity to manage your reactions, which helps you with the following:
- Decision making
- Successful relationships
- Self-confidence
- Creating a positive image of yourself in the minds of others
- Enjoying good mental health and avoiding some diseases that may result from inability to regulate emotions, such as depression and borderline personality disorder.
Steps to Help You Manage Your Emotions
If you want to manage your emotions and avoid unwanted outbursts, all you need to do is follow these steps:
- Smile to make yourself feel satisfied: Find a mirror, look at yourself while smiling, and do this for at least 30 seconds; this way, the muscles you use to smile send signals to your brain telling it that you are happy.
- Stand up, move, and jump: This helps your lymphatic system get rid of toxins that make you upset and feel bad. If the situation allows, jump several times when you feel upset; jumping helps release happiness hormones that send signals to the brain indicating that you are happy.
- Breathe deeply for at least 60 seconds: Our body cannot combine intense emotions and deep breathing at the same time. Through deep breathing, the lungs distribute oxygen to all parts of the body and brain; this calms you down and helps you manage your emotions correctly.
- Talk to someone: Express your feelings to start resolving the situation causing the emotional reaction. Talk to a friend or colleague instead of suppressing your emotions.
- Name your feelings: The part of the brain that can name emotions is the same part that experiences them. When you say “I feel angry,” you actually feel less angry.
- Keep an emotion journal: Writing down your emotions and feelings helps you discover troubling patterns that lead to emotional reactions. It also allows you to reflect on, study, and analyze your emotions to avoid them in the future.
- Meditate: Meditation helps you observe your emotions without trying to get rid of or change them; this increases your awareness of feelings and emotions and gives you the ability to manage them.
- Healthy sleep: When you get healthy sleep for no less than 8 hours, it helps you manage your emotions.
- Choose how to express your emotions: You should stop and think deeply about the appropriate way to express your emotions without causing any harm.
