Emotional Self Care Guide: Simple Tips for Better Emotional Well Being
Practising Emotional Self Care helps you live a holistic life.
It is the ability to understand, accept and manage emotions in healthy ways. It is about being aware of and identifying your feelings and allowing yourself to channel them in a way that benefits all aspects of life, as our inner world affects all areas of our life. It means building resilience to handle life's challenges while maintaining meaningful connections and a sense of purpose.
The ability to acknowledge and cope with both comfortable and uncomfortable emotions is a sign of good emotional health. When you have a healthy attitude about your emotions and know how to express yourself, you will be better equipped to handle the trials and tribulations of life. By learning to practice emotional self-care, you will live a holistic life. Irrespective of your age, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, practicing emotional self-care helps all.
Emotional Self Care Tips
1.Identify Your Emotions
Most people have this tendency to ignore or suppress their feelings or emotions. Holding them in can be really harmful. We need to learn to feel more deeply and become aware of our feelings.
We can start by simply noticing what we are feeling without trying to judge or find solutions. Emotions are messengers — they tell us what really matters to us and what needs attention. We can start by giving names to our feelings specifically: instead of just "good", "bad", "happy", "sad", "disappointed." This simple act of naming emotions can actually reduce their intensity.
To identify our emotions more objectively, we need to understand that all emotions are valid. They are not "good" or "bad" emotions — they are only comfortable and uncomfortable emotions. Feeling happy, bad, sad, angry, or disappointed doesn't mean something is certainly wrong. These emotions are part of our lives. The problem arises when we get stuck in unhealthy patterns or our emotions become hindrances in our lives.
2.Understand Emotional Needs
Just like other needs, we have emotional needs too. By understanding ourselves and being aware, we get to know about our emotions that can help us support ourselves in a better way. Moreover, it helps us with better social skills and being more empathetic, as understanding our emotional needs enables us to understand the emotions of other humans too.
3.Set Boundaries
There are certain people, situations, and other things that make us uncomfortable. Emotional self-care helps in setting healthy boundaries by limiting our connections with certain people and situations, saying no, and in many other ways. It helps us set priorities, maintain peace, and save energy and time.
4.Notice Your Emotional Triggers
By being in tune with your emotions, you begin to notice your behavioral patterns and natural tendencies. You can also identify the root of them and handle them in a better way to reduce their impact on your wellness.
5.Self Care Time
Indulge yourself in activities that can help you in many aspects of life.
a) Healthy Relationships: When you surround yourself with people who uplift you and you give and receive emotional support and positive experiences, it helps you build a sense of belonging. Humans are wired for connection. It helps you with self-worth.
b) Be Physically Active: Being physically active through workouts, yoga, and other mediums enhances your physical well-being. Additionally, it uplifts your mood and helps you with healthy self-esteem.
c) Kindness and Acts of Giving: Acts of giving and kindness can help you feel positive and give you purpose and connection with other people.
d) Back to the Basics: No matter how small it may seem, having a healthy lifestyle — waking up early after a deep sleep, consuming a healthy diet, less screen time, being active, spiritual activities, and good connections — always helps in achieving good emotional well-being.
Results of Better Emotional Well Being
- Positive mindset and overall life satisfaction
- Less stress and better mental clarity
- Improved decision-making and better problem-solving
- Managing emotions in healthy ways
- Better ways to deal with uncertainty and challenging times
- Seeking help and support
- Better connections and high self-esteem
- Meaning and purpose in life
This is a simple checklist to work on emotions in a better way and see its outcomes in all areas of life.