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Sometimes understanding your emotions can help you control your responses. Here are some tips on how to be more emotionally aware:
- Recognise when you are feeling emotional and name the emotion you are experiencing.
For example, if someone has posted something online about you that is upsetting, recognise you may be feeling angry, hurt or sad and understand that these emotions might make you respond in a way you may later regret. - Focus on one emotion at a time.
If you know you have been feeling sad or angry a lot lately then track that emotion for a day, recognise when you are feeling that way and experiment with different strategies to try to shake off the feeling. Some people like journaling to help them overcome emotions, others rate their emotions out of 10 so they can understand how much control their emotions might be having on how they respond to situations. - Learn the names of more emotions.
Write a list of how many emotions you can name. Researchers have found being emotionally aware helps us better manage our emotions. Google ‘emotions’ and see if you can learn the name of a few more emotions that you might experience. - Try journaling. For some people this really is the key to overcoming being controlled by your emotions. Write down how you feel, how that makes you want to act, why this might or might not be such a great idea and how you could work on not being so effected by your emotions.