Emotional Wellness

 Emotional Wellness

Emotional wellness is a very difficult thing for me personally. I have two boys constantly taking up my time and testing my short fuse so I have had practice...a lot. To me spiritual wellness and emotional wellness go hand in hand considering many of the things to increase wellness in these areas are about the same. An unbalanced emotional wellness will lead to a lot of imbalance in the physical side of the wellness wheel as well.

Emotional wellness includes many things including being aware of your personal feelings, your view of life, expressing feelings freely, stress levels and how you approach them, and personal choices. Let's go over some tips to help you balance your emotions (2011).

First I will cover peronal feelings. This includes how you feel about things and how strong your feelings are. You see the extremist, they have a great resolve and they express their feelings very freely with others. I am not saying choke people or shove your opinion down their throats, rather stand by your resolve and not be swayed by others. Once you know you like something and other people are moking it around you and you are still sticking with your opinion, it means your personal feelings about those things are healthy and sound. Sometimes your feelings may change and that is okay. Accepting that is one step closer to emotional wellbeing.

Expressing your feelings is also important emotionally. Excessively holding back can make you suceptable to major and minor diseases (Opening up). There are many ways to do this. You can write it down, tell a stranger, tell a therapist, tell a loved one, disquise it in a story or comic (I do this a lot), or tell a friend or loved one. It can be scary telling other how you feel, but from my personal experience, it is worth it.

Stress is a big thing in the fitness world. I found this video entertaining and informative and I really recommend you watch it. It cover all my points of stress and its effects on the body.

 

 Now there is hope to controlling emotional inbalances. Here are some tips.

• Meditation
• Hot pack on your neck with your eyes closed for 5 minutes
• Stepping away from the stress for a minute
• Expressing your feelings to others
• Learn how you can deal with stresses
• Exercise (shocking, I know)
• Take a deep breath
• Turn off electronics for a day. (Off, not on at all)

That last one is huge for me. I have some days where I have the TV on for my boys but I become super crabby and impatient. I end up turning it off and have music playing, or send them outside and I feel so much better. They are better for it as well.

I have faith that you will find your emotional balance. If you have questions on way to improve your emotions, contact me through email at brianne.ballard.fitness@gmail.com. I am even happy to have a listening ear if that is all you need.

KEEP WORKING! YOU CAN DO IT!


(2011). Emotional Wellness. from University of California, Riverside: http://wellness.ucr.edu/emotional_wellness.html
(1990). Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions. James W. Pennebaker. The Guilford Press