Why It Is Important To Label Your Emotions

Most people, when you ask them “how are you?” usually will respond with something along the terms of, “fine,” “good, how are you?” or “pretty good!” 

Why is it that this common answer most of us use doesn’t accurately describe our emotional state? We tend to say good even on the bad days, we tend to feel the need to act and respond in a desired way depending on our environment, and we tend to mask our emotions to most people. 

The ability to accurately label your emotions can be an important part of regulating your emotions and feeling in touch with your mind and body. Take 5 seconds to truly think about your answer to the following questions:

How are you feeling at this very moment?

How have you been feeling in the past week?

What has made you feel these emotions?

That might be difficult or uncomfortable for you to answer if you are not normally labeling your emotions and sitting with them. There is growing research showing that it is very difficult to properly identify our multiple emotions we experience on a daily basis. 

How can labeling my emotions make me feel better?
Being aware of your emotions instead of barreling throughout your day unaware of even feeling any emotions deeply can aid in reducing anxiety and controlling your thought patterns. Research shows that naming emotions is a game-changing skill that reduces the influence of negative feelings like anger or frustration have over you.

How can I begin doing this?

Usually, when something intense occurs in your day whether it is small or large, you will immediately have an emotion attached to that event. But, how often do we sit in those feelings and understand why we are feeling that way? Not very often. In your day, if something occurs, or even if nothing happens, take a few minutes to recenter yourself and ask how you are feeling and why you feel that day. Soon, this will become a natural habit in your day.