Start to practice being mindful of your day-to-day emotions and where you feel them in your body. Give names to these emotions. Reflect if one emotion feels in the head, whereas the other emotion feels in the chest and so forth. Reflect how you process unhelpful emotions.
You can imagine them passing over your mind like a cloud
Write down your thoughts
Think the other person is sitting in front of you and express yourself verbally.
IDENTIFY YOUR EMOTIONAL NEEDS
Reflect what experiences in your relationships bring out what emotion in you. Identify why you felt that way. What is it that the other person said or did that made you feel this way?
The more you identify which emotions are elicited by certain people and experiences, the more you can identify the experiences you voluntarily seek out and thus your unmet emotional needs.
LETTER OF CLOSURE
Write a letter to signify closure in relationships that are not practical and do not serve a purpose anymore. Identify and accept that they did help you grow but now you are unable to give any further to nourish those relationships since they do not serve any purpose anymore.
HEALTHY WAYS TO SELF SOOTHE
Self-soothing behaviour is something that people engage in either consciously or unconsciously in order to calm themselves down. Sometimes when not much thought is given into this people may resort to overeating junk food, excessively shop or increase their alcohol intake as a way to self soothe. This can have negative effects in the long run.
Learning the right strategies to self soothe may help regulate your emotions under stress and anxiety.
Using your 5 senses to self soothe…
- Going for a swim or having a warm bath or shower can be good way to regulate yourself.
- Using air freshener or scented candles.
- Having warm soup or regular sips of flavored
tea can be helpful. - Watching the sunset, spending time to watch nature or the waves on the beach.
- Listening to your favourite music.
- Watching comedy movies to have a good laugh
- Socializing and sharing.
- Our culture views crying as a weakness and sometimes even discourages it. However, crying can be a form of self-soothing that helps to calm you.
USING IMAGERY TO SELF SOOTHE:
Take a small break from your usual routine for 10 minutes. Sit in a quiet and comfortable spot. Close your eyes and imagine your favourite holiday spot., say for example relaxing in a beach in the sun.
What can you see?
What can you hear?
Can you feel anything? The wind?
What can you smell?
Can you taste anything? Your favourite cup of tea?
IMPROVE SELF ESTEEM
Increase self-esteem and positive self-love by giving yourself constant positive self-suggestions.
Everyday day write down ONE positive quality about yourself and WHY you deserve love. It has to be realistic and believable. It can be something like work in progress. Example., “I am a kind and caring person but sometimes I do not express my kindness well. I should work on it so that people around me will feel listened to and loved…”
Chennai minds, Top psychiatrist in Chennai offers EAP counselling to optimize mental and emotional wellness in corporate employees and other work places. Chennai minds emphasizes the regular practice of mindfulness as the first step to regulate emotions
