Everyone has emotions that affect their beliefs and behaviors daily; they affect everything from simple daily encounters to life-changing events. Emotions are typically the foundation for some type of experience.
Even though emotions may feel like they can overtake our lives, they are not problems that we need to get rid of; they are simply hints as to what we need, how we think based on the things around us.
The speed of life today—too many things to be done in the time available, too many distractions from technology and digital media, and the amount of information constantly bombarding us—has created even greater need for us to be able to comprehend and manage our feelings.
Emotions as Psychological Mechanisms
Emotions are complex psychological mechanisms created from thoughts, experiences and the environment around us; they exist as internal signals which help an individual better understand and interpret the world they live in. For example, feelings of anger, happiness, fear, etc., can provide guidance and information that will assist individuals in determining where to place their attention and assist them in making decisions about whether those events are important in terms of future behaviour—either personally or professionally.
Current research within the field of psychology (for example, by the American Psychological Association) suggests that there is a relationship between emotion and how the brain processes information related to memory and behaviours. One of the reasons that reactions to emotions tend to be both immediate and intense, at the same time as the emotions are often not consciously processed thought about prior to being acted upon, relates directly back to their connection with the brain’s limbic (emotional) system.
How Do Emotions Influence Everyday Life?
Emotion is another way that people can react to situations quickly by providing a means of behavioural direction by guiding them in how to communicate, build relationships and work positively (increase productivity). Positive emotion will help create increased focus and creativity while negative emotion usually indicates that there will be a need for some type of action or change.
If an individual does not control their emotions, the emotions themselves create confusion or conflict.
Learning What Your Emotional Triggers Are
Knowing these events will assist an individual in learning to develop an understanding of and effectively control their emotions. Emotional triggers are related to earlier events according to people who study psychological effects of emotion.
So, what you experience at this moment isn’t always going to be the same as the experience you had before.
Common Emotional Triggers
- Negative Experiences
- Peer Pressure
- Fear of Losing Control
- Fear of Rejection
The more you can identify these triggers, the better you will be able to manage them at the present time rather than trying to escape. There are a number of ways to identify your personal emotional triggers.
Awareness provides you with a chance to have rational thought processes as opposed to react without thinking at all. Noticing your physical reactions such as tightness in your muscles versus relaxed muscles.
Techniques to Manage Emotions Effectively
Breath and Grounding Techniques
Practicing Slow Deep Breathing Techniques will signal to your body to start to relax and that your body is not in imminent danger, thus reducing the intensity of your feeling being experienced.
This technique can be used in any environment without needing to be in an environment that has any particular conditions or preparations. Grounding Techniques are equally effective in being able to focus your attention to the present moment.
Observing Your Surroundings and/or Noticing and Feeling the Physical Sensations in your Body and/or Doing Simple Tasks, allows you to take your mind off of any overwhelming thoughts and create a clearer picture of what is occurring and respond more thoughtfully.
Creating a Temporary Pause Between Emotional and Action Based Responses
By taking a “pause” before responding allows you to create a gap between your emotional response and your action based response. The “pause before responding” idea has been researched extensively on Emotionally Intelligent responses, including Daniel Goleman’s work.
Taking “pauses” and reflecting and creating a response will provide you with a higher probability of responding thoughtfully and respectfully and will ultimately reduce the instances of unnecessary conflict with others.
Managing Negative Thoughts
While it may seem logical to want to eliminate negative thoughts completely from our thinking, emotional health and self-care through a better management of our emotions means your focus should be on how to understand and manage your negative thoughts and not let them dictate how you respond to all situations.
Accepting Your Thoughts without Reacting to Them
Acceptance of your thoughts means allowing your thoughts to exist without reaction. Accepting your thoughts does not mean you have to agree with every single thought that runs through your mind but that you are going to accept the fact that you are temporary experiencing a mental event in the form of a thought.
Healthy Emotional Expression
A great many people benefit from physical activities as a way to let off steam. Behaviour research supports this and it is an accepted practice in people’s daily lives.
Through alternate ways to express themselves, individuals are able to cope with their emotions and develop emotional balance in an appropriate and constructive manner.
Building Emotional Balance Through Daily Habits
Small daily things done on a regular basis will lead to creating the same patterns of emotion in a systematic and natural manner. Research performed by organisations such as the Cleveland Clinic has determined that lifestyle habits, such as sleep behaviours, physical activity, and structure, are directly linked to emotional regulation.
When people do not have structured daily habits, their emotional responses may be random and very difficult to control. To develop emotional balance, individuals must have structured physical and mental habits.
For example, daily routines and short breaks will increase clarity of emotion. These habits will create stability of emotion without requiring significant adjustments in lifestyle.
The effect of consistency on emotional stability
With consistency of our daily activities, over time we will decrease the total range of change in our emotional responses. This enables you to approach obstacles in a clearer manner.
Simple Daily Practices
- Take regular short breaks during very big jobs.
- Be clear-minded about separating work from your personal time.
- Making these small changes will put into effect a solid daily base.
Building Long-Term Stability and Growth of Emotion
Long-term emotional stability is built slowly over time through repetition of awareness and consistent behavior patterns. It does not come from eliminating the emotional challenges you have, but rather, developing your capacity to deal with them in an improved way over time.
People grow every time they learn something new about themselves and their emotions. Research conducted by some of the largest universities in America, like University of California, have shown that emotional behavior patterns can change and expand with time and practice through self-reflection.
This means your emotions are not a fixed, but can become even more developed through your efforts. Developing long-term stability takes time and a great deal of studying.
Emotional Resiliency Factors
Having emotional resiliency will not take away challenges but rather will allow us to manage them more effectively.
4 Factors related to building emotional resiliency:
- Recognizing emotional patterns and responses
- Staying present in times of challenge
- The development of each of these factors, over time, will contribute to a more stable emotional state
- A greater level of success in dealing with everyday challenges
Conclusion
The methods used to manage emotions do not require complicated techniques but rather an individual must pay attention to them regularly so they can continue to improve gradually.
The foundation of one’s long-term emotional security/development is built through regular daily routines, learning from your past experience, and reflecting on your experiences.
As one continues to build these skills they will develop a higher degree of thought and control over their emotions and will have a stable base from which to manage their day-to-day experiences and to respond to unexpected events with clarity and balance.