We live in a world where most people are emotionally challenged. Meaning, we do not know how to properly express our emotions. As a society, we need to become more educated on our emotions. We are often told even from a young age, “stop being such a baby,” or “it’s not really that bad, just get over it.” With this, there is a strong likelihood that we will become disconnected from our emotions.
While expressing emotions is different for everyone, nothing good comes from bottling up your emotions. When you suppress your emotions, it oftentimes makes you feel worse in the long run. When we do not know how to express our emotions in a healthy way- it affects ourselves as well as other people around us. Here are some ways you can take control and start expressing your emotions in a healthy way.
Healthy Ways To Express Your Emotions
1. Journal your feelings
It is no secret that journaling has proven to be beneficial for your mental health. Journaling allows you to write down and express your feelings instead of holding them in. I am someone who is very empathetic and tends to feel very deeply. When someone around me is going through a difficult time, I take on their emotions and it is hard to get them to leave my mind. Journaling has taught me to navigate my emotions as well as the emotions of others.
When you are journaling how you feel, you should always include your reason for feeling the emotion, how it makes you feel, and how you feel after you have expressed your emotions.
2. Allow yourself to feel your emotions
NEVER brush your emotions to the side and think of them as something you will deal with later. All of us feel a variety of different emotions daily, all of which need to be felt and addressed. For example, if you wake up in the morning and notice that it’s just “one of those days where nothing is going right,” deal with it right then. It is important to deal with your emotions when something happens to avoid any conflict that will occur throughout the day. If you experiencing anger, stress, frustration, etc. and you do not deal with it right away, your whole day will be affected by those emotions. This often results in taking your emotions out on others without any valid reason.
3. Take a deep breath
It is so important to take a deep breath and think before you act. If there is something that is affecting you, take a deep breath and allow yourself a few minutes to relax. This allows our minds to pause and give us time to think about the best way to handle the situation. For example, if someone does something that frustrates you, our initial reaction may be to call them out, which often results in curse words, or things we do not mean. If you take the time to process what just happened, you most likely will respond in a better/ healthier way.
4. Talk to yourself out loud
Have you ever talked to yourself out loud and instantly felt better? This is because it allows you to clarify your thoughts and gives you a better understanding of why you are feeling a certain way. If you do not personally understand your emotions, you will not be able to talk about them with other people and allow others to know how you are feeling.
5. Stop seeking validation from others
You may have run into an issue where you are explaining your emotions and it seems as though the other person is unable to understand why you feel that way. Truthfully, not everyone is going to be able to understand your emotions and that is okay. You need to understand that you feel the way you do for a reason. You do not need reassurance from those around you regarding your feelings.
6. Set healthy emotional boundaries
Setting healthy emotional boundaries is crucial. Boundaries protect yourself and allows others to know what will be tolerated. You must be able to separate your feelings from another person’s feelings. Some emotional boundaries to set include:
- Saying no to things that you do not want to do
- Protect yourself and your time
- Take personal time if you need it
- Prioritize what’s most important to you
- Speak up if you are uncomfortable
7. Stop overthinking
Have you ever noticed that we never overthink our positive feelings? Instead, we only overthink our negative thoughts and emotions. We are often tricked by our brains into thinking that a situation is worse than it is. Overthinking puts us in a mentally insecure place and affects every aspect of our lives.
Final Thoughts
I hope that you found value in these 7 healthy ways to express your emotions. If you are someone who struggles with handling your emotions and often suppress how you feel, take the first step and start applying these tips to your life. Remember that is normal to express your emotions and only you are in control of how that is done.
