Definition: Understanding Emotions

Most people would agree that it's important to communicate what you're feeling. But how do you KNOW what you are feeling? Here are some simple yet profound ways to know what you're feeling and how to use those feelings to improve your life.

Steps

1. Know what feelings are. They're simply energy that moves through the body. We sometimes try to stop our feelings from moving through, either because we're embarrassed by them, or because we think we'll be seen in a negative light. This causes exhaustion. In reality, feelings are flow, they are connected to our sense of wellness and creativity. If we are able to access flow/feelings, then we can maintain our physical, psychological, and emotional health.

2. Get in the zone. Each feeling has a particular zone in the body that it travels through.
o Fear often starts in the belly and moves upward in the body. Most of us are familiar with butterflies in the belly. Fear, like all feelings, is important because it gives us information with which to keep us safe and healthy. If a person continually ignores their fear sensations, or is carrying around old fear that they've never expressed, they can develop physical symptoms in the zone of the body where the fear is blocked. Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcers, Indigestion,and Nausea,are often related to blocked fear in a person's body.

o Sadness often begins in the chest and moves upward through the throat, and up to the eyes, where we see tears. You've probably heard the expression "She's all choked up." or "My heart hurts." We've all seen someone cry. But often, we try and control our sadness because we think it's too painful to feel, and we stop the energy before it can come up through the eyes and out into a healthy expression. However, actually allowing oneself to cry fully can be one of the most cleansing experiences. Paying attention to the physical sensations in these areas and allowing the energy to move completely assists us in grieving a loss, empathizing with others' suffering and maintaining health and well being. Sadness, when blocked in these areas of the body can lead to heart/lung problems, throat/voice problems, and eye issues.

o Anger begins in the back between the shoulder blades and travels upward, along the back of the neck, and around the sides of the jaws. Anger is the "No trespass" emotion, and assists us in creating healthy boundaries. Healthy anger can assist us in saying "No" to things that are not in our best interest. If you notice sensations in your back, neck, and jaws such as tension, pain,and pressure, it's likely that you've been stuffing your anger energy. Most people do this because they have been taught that anger is an inappropriate emotion, or they saw someone who used their anger to injure people, and they don't want to do the same thing. True healthy anger doesn't injure anyone, including the person feeling it. Healthy anger doesn't blame, abuse, or attack others. Moving anger in healthy ways, allows the energy to come all the way up and through the body, enabling the person to give voice to their experience and to create something different.

o Sexual feelings are one of the five core emotions that our society has created all kinds of judgment and opinion on. The truth is, that sexual energy is nothing more than energy flowing through certain parts of our bodies. It's possible to feel sexual feelings and to enjoy them, without acting on them with another person. Sexual feelings can also help us distinguish things that we love, or that we feel good about. (Even if they're not specifically sexual in nature) People who suppress their sexual feelings usually do so because of a sexual trauma, or conditioning that tells someone that these feelings are dirty, or embarrassing. Physical symptoms from suppressed sexual feelings often exist in the pelvis and or sexual organs. Learning how to be with sexual feelings can be enjoyable, and freeing and have very little to do with who or how we choose to have actual sex with.

o Joy is the last of the five core emotions. Joy is often felt in the chest (Similar to sadness, we have tears of joy) but it may radiate outward more than simply moving upward. To experience Joy fully, it's imperative to cultivate the ability to move all of the emotions through completely, because they are all connected. If you want to feel Joy, you need to be willing to also feel your fear, and your sadness, anger and sexual feelings. If you are stuffing one or more of the more "Painful" emotions, then you'll also be stuffing your joy.
3. Keep a journal and record what you experience during certain events. For example, how did you feel during your happiest moment? During your saddest? During your most passionate? Then when you are trying to figure out how you were feeling, try to match up your current state to one of those moments.

Tips

• Knowing what you're feeling opens the door to your creativity, your wisdom, your intuition, and your health. These emotions are not so much painful as they are a strong feeling that we seek to stop, which ultimately creates way more pain than allowing the energy to move freely.
• People often think, if I allow myself to feel this, I'll never stop. The truth is, that true authentic feelings move through in waves, and most don't last more than a few minutes. If you're experiencing feelings that persist for hours or days, there is likely a different feeling underneath that is needing to be felt and expressed.
• Portions of this article are based on the works of Drs. Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks.

Source: WikiHow