Our emotions can either make us or break us. But sometimes when you want to control your emotions in a certain way but are filled with negative situations that attempt to get the better of us, what do we do? Keep in mind the old adage, emotion equals motion. Picture a depressed person; how would they look? They will probably be slouched down, motionless and with their head in their hands? If you assumed that position I’ll bet that you’ll get in that state of mind even if you weren’t depressed to start with. So start moving! Jump up and down, take a walk, do some yoga. Just move your body when you feel low on energy or need a heightened sense of awareness.
Now, here are some notes I took and hope they are useful:
It’s not much about the immediate feelings you have, it’s about the reaction to those feelings.
Emotional Discipline - gives us a choice
Think through your feelings versus just reacting to them
To practice emotional discipline, it takes 5 steps:
1. Cause - Identify the Cause of the conflict
2. Body - Feel what’s happening in your Body (where & how intense: -10 to 10)
3. Mind - Examine your Mind. What are you thinking about? [Thoughts, what are you telling yourself, mental images related to this, underlying assumptions your making]
4. Spirit - Spirit. What part of yourself are you bringing to the situation?
Are you trying to defend yourself and your ego? Or are you trying to resolve the conflict to make peace?
5. Choice - Make a Choice. Choose a strategy to help you with your emotions.
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Choose the Meaning of your Feelings (Aside: Your not going to feel those emotions in 2 hours, the next day, etc)
Feel your Feelings - Allow yourself to fully experience the emotion (face it)
Happiness - comes from within; happiness comes from letting go of the little things in life that bother us. Appreciation seems to be the fundamental aspect of Happiness: What are the things in my life that I’m very appreciative of?
Care more for the process than the result - it’s the journey along the way that’s most enjoyed.
Mental Reframing - Taking any circumstance and emotion and looking at it from different angles.
It’s all about stopping and thinking about it, and looking for other ways to see the circumstances.
[Think of it as a play - rewrite the script]
Breathe with Healthful Discipline - If we breathe deeper, and slow down our breathing it can have a very calming effect.
e.g. Think of breathing as beginning with the OUT breath, not the IN breath.
Try Experimenting.. find breathing techniques that’ll suit you the best.
The Power of Silence
Have a great day!
Life Coach
www.live2grow.com