I’m a sensitive, emotional person. I used to judge this as bad and wrong. But now I see it as my superhero power. Because I allow myself to feel my most tender places, I’m given the gift of coming closer to my heart, having a deeper sense of intuition, the capacity to release, and more compassion.
But sometimes, my emotions can get the best of me and I can find myself in situations I would prefer not to be, especially when in public.
Whether it’s the winter blues or not, this time of year can have even the peppiest among us feeling a little off balance.
Throw in the dark, short days, billowing blizzards, sunshine deprivation and hormone imbalances and, well, we might just need some tricks up our sleeve to pull ourselves out.
Here are 6 loving tools to use when the pressure’s on and your feelings get the best of you.
The Quick Roll:
The first thing to do when the waterworks hit is to make your eyes as big as you can and roll them once to the left in an exaggerated full circle and once to the right in an exaggerated full circle. (Or vice versa, it doesn’t matter which, just roll…)
This cuts off flow to the tear ducts and stops the tears immediately.
Next time you start to cry in a place you would rather not, do The Quick Roll. Rest easy. It’s over for now.
Toss The Bottle:
If overcoming anxiety or panic hits, grab the nearest plastic bottle that has liquid in it.
Toss it mindfully into the air from one hand to the other, focusing your attention on the liquid in the bottle, not your hands.
This is a great trick to snap your brain synapses back into alignment. No worries – you will soon start to feel calm and back on track again.
Accept feelings:
The biggest mistake we can make when our feelings arise is to judge them or make them wrong. We believe they should or should not be felt in a certain way.
But we’re human, and feelings exist whether we want them to or not.
By accepting feelings with gentleness and an open heart, we give ourselves permission to be however we are in the moment. And taking this kind of pressure off allows our feelings to quickly and more easily pass.
We understand all feelings come and go. Now we can return to the task at hand.
Know Your Values:
When you know and trust your values, these values become more important than your feelings. You have a clearer sense of who you are and how you want to present yourself in the world.
Know your top 3 values and keep them forefront in your mind.
That way, when emotions strike, you can override them with the awareness of what’s most important to you in your life.
For example, if one of your values is professionalism in the workplace then empower yourself with that value before you walk into that meeting and lose your shit.
Allow Time And Space:
Let the story connected to whatever triggered the feelings go for now.
You don’t need to know why you’re feeling what you’re feeling, try to figure it out, make sense of it, or come to any immediate conclusions.
When you’re feeling out of balance, it’s not the time to resolve the fight you just had with your boyfriend, talk your frustrations out with a co-worker, or leave long sobbing messages to your best friend – it only fuels the emotion.
Address it later, at an appropriate time, when it can be handled more efficiently. Just put what it all means aside for now in order to re-focus again.
Put Your Attention On Something Else:
Sometimes we just need to redirect our energy in order to help the feelings subside. When we focus our mind on another activity it can help us not get carried away emotionally.
Move your body, dance around the living room, go for a walk. Pick up something to read. Anything, even a People magazine. Start cooking something and focus on the activity, or chopping with your knife. Play with a child. Do something with your hands like knitting, cleaning, giving yourself a manicure.
Any activity will do!
To finding and keeping emotional balance with love!
