E is for Emotions!

Everyone experiences both positive and negative emotions - that is a fact of life.

When we feel negative emotions like anxiety, anger or fear, we try to find ways to cope with them, and we often bottle them up as a coping mechanism. This is harmful to our mental health because it usually causes those emotions to fester and become worse.

It is important to realise that dealing with those emotions directly is the best way to overcome them. Rather than burying them, we should address them head on and try to find the root of that emotion so we can deal with it. This helps us to build vital coping skills and helps us to be more open about when we feel negatively about something.

The more positive emotions we feel, the better we are able to function.

Research shows that the more positive emotions we have, the more we can think creatively, overcome barriers, and recover more easily from shocks and hard times. 

Positive emotions aren't just about feeling happy all the time. We have the capacity to feel a massive range of positive emotions, like joy, interest, serenity, hope, gratitude, kindness, surprise, confidence, enthusiasm, satisfaction, pride, inspiration, awe and love.

These positive emotions do more than make us feel better, they actually help to boost our ability to work and study, and improves our physical health and relationships!

To build our mental wellbeing, we need more positive emotions that negative ones. 

Research has shown that for every one negative feeling we have, we need 3 positive ones to balance it out and make us feel positively. For example, if one person insults you, and one other person compliments you, you are more likely to remember the insult. But if 3 people were to compliment you, that would balance out that one insult and help you feel positive again.

We can build our range of positive emotions, not by forcing positivity or pretending to be happy, but by being open to new people, experiences, challenges, ideas and thoughts, and by being open to reviewing old ideas and experiences to change how we feel about them.

Exercises and activities to try:

Identify your emotions - Take a page and draw a line down the middle. On one side, make a list of all the positive emotions that you feel have experienced recently, and on the other side make a list of the negative emotions. Circle each one of the negative emotions, and then circle groups of 3 of the positive ones, and draw a line from each one negative to a group of 3 positives.

This activity can be useful to help us understand the feelings that we feel on a regular basis, and to help us establish if our positive and negative emotions are balancing out. If we find that they are balanced then that's great, but if not then we may need to look at ways to either deal with our negative emotions to reduce them, or to find some activities to help build new positive emotions.

Positivity treasure chest - Grab a box and go treasure hunting in your house. Look for things that bring you positive emotions, and that remind you of positive experiences in your life.

This could include photos or souvenirs from great times, awards that remind you of accomplishments, cards or notes from special people in your life, something you made or drew, your favourite inspiration quotes or song lyrics, childhood mementos, a gift that you treasure, and photos of someone you look up to.

Having all of these things that bring us a wide range of positive emotions in one place can be a great way to help us feel better when we have a bad day, or when we experience hard times. Keep this box in your room somewhere, under your bed or in your wardrobe, and revisit it regularly to give yourself a boost of positivity. And don't forget to add to it regularly!