Take These Three Steps to Begin to Appreciate Your Emotions
What is an emotion? A subjective feeling or sense a person has about their experience. This experience is based on a memory, an internal event, or an event that is occurring around you.
Are you suffering from anxiety?
Begin to Find Your Joy through Journaling
How do you Experience Emotions
I would like you to take some time and begin to learn about yourself.
Step 1: Begin to write out the emotions you are experiencing.
Step 2: Write about how you are experiencing them.
Step 3: Write what you may be thinking when you are experiencing them.
The goal is not to let emotions control you, but rather guide you. Take the time to explore yourself so you can begin to make changes.
What is an emotion
Emotions can be hard to define. They are a description of your present experience. Some emotions that describe your present experience are easier to identify than others. Such examples are angry, happy, and sad.
Emotions will appear different in different situations. Being happy at work will look different than being happy at home. You may smile and joke when you are happy at work. At home, you man run around hooping and hollering in excitement.
Emotions can be expressed in varying degrees. Emotions are controlled by two competing parts of your brain. One part is your thinking/rational brain and the other is your emotional brain. Both can equally influence the expression of emotions or one can dominate your behaviors or reactions. You made me angry let’s talk about This is an example of allowing your emotional brain to experience emotions, but allowing your thinking brain to express it in words. Compared to you made me angry let’s fight. This is allowing your emotional brain to dominate your response to your emotions.
Emotions have appeared different based upon the amount of energy behind them. You can be just as happy in two different situations and express those emotions differently based upon the amount of energy you put into it. You can feel angry at work. This may be expressed as a backhanded compliment. You can also have lots of energy and flip over tables, cuss at people and storm off.
Emotions can be simple or complex. This is similar to learning to identify colors. There are simple or primary colors: Red, Yellow, Blue. Which can correspond to the common emotions: red for anger, yellow for happiness, and blue for sad. A complex emotion would be envy. This emotion combines sadness and loss of happiness. Just like combing the colors blue and yellow can make green.
Types of emotions
Identifying emotions can be challenging. It can be hard to know if emotions are solely an internal experience, external experience, or both an internal and external experience. Emotions are a window to your heart and soul. When you are able to identify your emotions you can more easily link them to your underlying thoughts. Your thoughts influence your mood, emotions, feelings, and actions.
Paul Ekman’s research during the 1970’s on facial expression has been a popular way to identify emotions. He focused solely on the external expression of emotions and another person’s ability to read those expressions. His original research focused on 7 basic emotions:
Contempt
Suprise
Anger
Disgust
Happiness
Sadness
Fear
Dr. Robert Plutchik took a different view on emotions. His research focused on 8 primary emotions.
Joy
Sadness
Acceptance
Disgust
Fear
Anger
Surprise
Anticipation
He proposed emotions have opposite emotions:
joy versus sadness
anger versus fear
trust versus disgust
surprise versus anticipation
He also identified that emotions have intensities. Joy intensely experienced is ecstasy and less intensely experienced is serenity. Anger if mildly experienced is annoyance. If severely experienced is rage.
Identify Your Own Emotions
Before you can Identify your own emotions. It is important to review the above list and know the basic emotions. Second, it is important to know how emotions are triggered?
Memories can trigger thoughts and these thoughts can lead to emotional responses.
What your body is doing: body movements can lead to thoughts and lead to emotional responses.
Experiences within your body: body sensations can lead to thoughts and lead to emotional responses.
Experience outside your body: seeing, hearing events can lead to thoughts and lead to emotional responses.
Emotions in the Body
Now that we have identified basic emotions. How do you identify these emotions? Some clues can come from observing three features in your body. This method is known as the Alba Method. It was first used to train actors to connect with their authentic emotions.
Ask yourself:
How is my breathing?
What is my posture like?
What is my facial expression?
Why do we have Emotions
Emotions are like a compass that helps you reveal your underlying thoughts. Before we explore this a bit further. It is important to really sit with and take time to understand yourself. What is an emotion, what are the basic emotions, and how you experience emotions? Make sure to take the steps before moving on.
Once you take the time to understand emotions. The next most important part is understanding your emotions. Emotions are like a compass. They provide direction. They do not answer the question of how to make you feel better. They are not something to be stopped or controlled. Their purpose is to provide information. After you have identified your direction, “This is how I am feeling.” The next most important question is why.
It is important to begin to explore why you are feeling the way you are. What are the underlying thoughts you are having?
Are you suffering from anxiety?
Begin to Find Your Joy through Journaling
Other Helpful Post ….
Citation:
Ellen@paulekman.com. “Managing Emotional Triggers.” Paul Ekman Group, 16 Nov. 2021, https://www.paulekman.com/blog/managing-emotional-triggers/.
plc, Paul Ekman International. “A Brief Look into Dr. Paul Ekman's Early Research: Paul Ekman International PLC.” A Brief Look Into Dr. Paul Ekman's Early Research | Paul Ekman International Plc, https://www.ekmaninternational.com/a-brief-history-into-paul-ekmans-early-research/.
Plutchik, Robert (1980), Emotion: Theory, research, and experience: Vol. 1. Theories of emotion, 1, New York: Academic
Spunt RP, Adolphs R. The neuroscience of understanding the emotions of others. Neurosci Lett. 2019 Feb 6;693:44-48. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.06.018. Epub 2017 Jun 15. PMID: 28624265; PMCID: PMC5732077.
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