1. Learn how to identify and label your emotions
Because it begins the process of how to regulate them. How can you manage how you feel if you have no idea what you are feeling? I like to remind clients when people are feeling chaotic inside, they are often acting in similarly disorganized ways. Consider reading up on emotional intelligence or buying an emotion wheel graphic to improve your emotional vocabulary.
2. Learn how to identify where emotions live in your body
We are often used to using somatic language to describe our feelings without even realizing it. Have you ever said something like “there’s a knot in my stomach”? That’s because emotions have a physiological component, and getting in touch with where emotional energy exists in the body can help to relieve stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and pent-up emotions. My own somatic therapy taught me the importance of identifying somatic feelings, tracking them, and allowing my body to move, stretch, yawn, tremble, and cry to release that energy. Somatic experiencing is a specific type of therapy I am trained in that targets where emotions are in the body. Physical activities such as yoga can also help you develop a more mindful relationship with your body.
3. Learn how to care for yourself
Do you struggle with organization? Buy a calendar, set alarms, and change your notification settings to allow yourself to focus. Do delicious and healthy meals bring you joy but you find cooking at the end of a workday too stressful sometimes? Go to Trader Joe’s and peruse their pre-made frozen section and pick up some already prepared foods you know you will love that will be stress-free. I think you get the picture. Everyone has strengths as well as areas that don’t feel as natural to them—identify what your needs are and learn how to care for yourself, aka give yourself what you need, guilt-free.