Monitoring your Emotions
On this blog, I place a large importance on your mental health and wellbeing being a priority in your life. However, something that not many people acknowledge that is difficult to do is actually check in on yourself and understand what you are feeling. Emotions are confusing and intense, especially if you are experiencing things for the first time and figuring out what exactly it is you feel and why you feel that way is sometimes not as straightforward as it sounds. I’m going to discuss some ways I have found to help me monitor my emotions.
Focus on the symptoms
Sometimes, we are not aware that we are feeling a certain way but it is shown more in the way we act and our body is reacting. For example, you may not think you are under a lot of stress but your appetite is down, you are breaking out and are fatigued all the time which are all classic signs of stress and burnout. Your physical and mental health are incredibly connected, and your mood can have an affect on everything from hormones to sleep to even the way your skin looks from day to day. It can sometimes be easier to deduce what you are feeling from the symptoms than the feeling itself.
Journal
A great way to reliably monitor your emotions is to keep a record of them. There are many ways you can do this, perhaps voice memos on your phone or a written record in a book or on a device. It is possible we do not notice gradual changes in our mood much, but looking back on your emotions a week or two ago and seeing a significant change can help you figure out what you are feeling. Additionally, the physical act of regularly recording your emotions will help make you check in with yourself more and consciously think about your wellbeing.
Talk to the people closest to you
Similarly to the first point, sometimes we do not notice changes within ourselves but it comes out in the way we act and behave which can be noticed by the people closest to us or the people we spend the most time with. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, even if it is asking a loved one to remind you to hydrate regularly or eat at certain times when you know you will be stressed and forget to do simple but important things like that. Not only does it mean that they are more aware of your state of mind, but they can help you through some of the tough spots.
Emotional wellbeing and regulation is a skill, and just like every skill it needs to be developed and can be worked on by everyone. Just because you don’t think you are good at it yet doesn’t mean that there’s no time to improve - you have all the time in the world to work on it at your ease and speed. There is also no one size fits all with feelings as what works for me may not work for you, so these are simply some starting points that may get you going in the right direction.
