3 EASY AND HEALTHY WAYS TO RELEASE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
We are all feeling it. Like many of you, Ive had a lot of time to reflect on the current unprecedented global events facing humanity due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Even coaches are feeling the deep fear, anxiety and elevated heart rate as the news continue to unfold hourly and the world as we now know it is shutting down for the foreseeable future.
I hope most of you are home safe, hopefully surrounded by your loved ones. Although this is an absolute blessing in such overwhelming times, it can also bring another layer of complexity and you we all try to learn and work within the same confined space.
As much as I am enjoying being home with my family, there are moments when the constant changes and uncertainty do build up. When we are filled with fear, anger or overwhelm, it can be hard to make the right decisions in the moment about how to cope with our feelings. Ignoring them at a time like this will only cause our feelings to grown bigger and out of control, so we must find healthy ways to release our negative emotions, so it can help us cope and hopefully make our situations a bit better.
It is important that you understand that we need to express and release our negative emotions or they will build up and block us from enjoying our present, being productive, and reaching our goals. When we release negative emotions, we free up space and energy for positive, successful, and fulfilling things. So we need to gain awareness of our feelings, accept them without judging them as “good” or “bad”, and use healthy copying skills to release them.
So let me share with you 3 easy ways to release negative emotions, so you can feel better the right way:
1. BREATH DEEPLY: Take in the emotion, and release it with a long, deep breath. Do this as many times as it takes for your body to acknowledge the release. I love visualizing that as I inhale, I imagine the oxygen scooping all of the negative feelings, and I watch them go out through each exhalation outside of my body, until all I have left in my stomach is a lightness and an easiness I couldn’t feel before.
2. WRITE IT DOWN: Some people prefer to release emotions by writing them down, specially if they feel uneasy about sharing these with friends or loved ones. In this case, journaling about it can be very powerful. A study from UCLA found that putting your emotions into words can alleviate physical pain, as it reduces your brain’s emotional response in the amygdala.
3. TALK WITH FRIENDS: Talking about your feelings with a friend or a loved one will make you feel better, because getting things off your chest feels great. At a time like this, reaching out to friends can really help reduce your stress levels and help you feel connected. Have someone listen to you and pay it forward by being a listening ear to others too.
And if all of the above fails, you can get more creative and do something that works for you, like working out. The point is you must do something!
For us at home, upon the obvious tension that was rising between my children, I decided to help them come up with their own way to release their feelings. My 9 year old son came up with an “Emotional Release Corner” to help him and his sister dump the negative emotions, instead of projecting them onto each other. I leave you with some photos to show you that in coming up with ways to feel better, there are no limits to your imagination!
My thoughts are with you all. Please stay safe and do reach out if you want to share more ways to release negative emotions in the comments below. Your emotional well-being is just as imiportant as your physical health.
May you find moments of peace, joy and love.
My best to you all.
Isabel
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