5 TRAINING METHODS TO MANAGE EMOTIONS IN A HEALTHY WAY

Emotion-focused coping focuses on regulating negative emotional reactions to stress such as anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger. This type of coping may be useful when a stressor is something that you cannot change. Here are 5 training methods to manage emotions in a healthy way!

When you can manage your emotional response to a given situation more effectively, you may feel somewhat better about what’s happening — or at least more equipped to handle it.

Here are 5 training methods to manage emotions in a healthy way!

1.Meditation

Meditation can help you to separate yourself from your thoughts as you react to stress. So, you can stand back and choose a response rather than react out of panic or fear.

Meditation also allows you to relax your body, which can reverse your stress response as well. Those who practice meditation tend to be less reactive to stress, too, so meditation is well worth the effort it takes to practice.

2.Journaling

Journaling allows you to manage emotions in several ways. It can provide an emotional outlet for stressful feelings. It also can enable you to brainstorm solutions to problems you face.

Journaling also helps you to cultivate more positive feelings, which can help you to feel less stressed. To get the most out of journaling, try:

writing every day, even if you only have 5 minutes
writing whatever comes to mind — don’t worry about editing or censoring yourself
keeping track of any mood or emotional changes you experience and any factors that might be contributing to the pattern, whether that’s your exercise routine, certain foods, or particular relationships

3. Positive thinking

It’s important to understand that optimistic or positive thinking does not involve ignoring your problems. It’s about giving challenges a positive spin and finding pockets of joy to help you get through them.

To add more positive thinking to your life, try:

building yourself up with positive self-talk instead of talking down to yourself
recognizing your successes instead of focusing on “failures”
reminding yourself you can always try again

All these things are easier said than done, but with a bit of practice, they’ll start to feel more natural.

4.Reframing

When you reframe a situation, you look at it from another perspective. This can help you consider the bigger picture instead of getting stuck on little details, as difficult or unpleasant as those details sometimes are.

Say, for example, your relationship has been struggling over the past few months, primarily because you and your partner haven’t had much time to do things together or communicate about problems.

Suddenly, you lose your job and find that you’re now spending plenty of time at home.

Not working isn’t ideal, of course, but for the moment there’s nothing you can do to change that situation. Instead of letting frustration and boredom build up, you can look at the bright side of the situation: You now have plenty of time to reconnect with your partner and strengthen your relationship.

5.Talking it out

Burying or pushing away negative emotions usually doesn’t do much to improve them.

You might not actively notice these unwanted emotions if you work very hard at keeping them hidden, but they do eventually tend to resurface.

It’s generally a good idea to talk about your feelings to any others involved in the situation. They may not even realize they had an impact on you unless you tell them.

Communicating your difficulties won’t always resolve them, but if an approach to resolution does exist, you’re more likely to discover it together.

Talking about your emotions to a trusted loved one can also help you feel better, especially when there’s no good solution to your problem. Friends and family can provide social and emotional support by listening with empathy and validating your feelings.

Not all problems can be solved. You can’t change someone else’s behavior and you can’t undo a health diagnosis. But, you can change how you feel about the problem. Experiment with “5 training methods to manage emotions in a healthy way” to discover which ones reduce your distress and help you feel better.

Source: verywellmind, healthline