I have a question for you.
"How are you feeling right now?" Many people have no idea, or provide an automatic response like, "I'm feeling good, I'm fine." If you have difficulties with knowing how you feel, you are not alone. There are many reasons why you may not be able to easily identify what you are feeling - including the fact that many people who ask you how you are feeling, don't really care! It's just a societal nicety to get out of the way. But knowing how you are feeling IS important. Combined with knowing what you are thinking and identifying what your body is experiencing, it's one of the key ways you make sense of the world around you. This awareness is a part of living a more mindful life and taking responsibility for your overall self-care. Below are five habits or behaviours that might be getting in the way for you understanding what you are feeling. Note, I do not discuss trauma in this article, or anxiety and other mental health conditions that can cause difficulties in accessing emotions. The five habits discussed are behaviours and habits that everyone can fall into with realising it. 5 feelings habits or behaviours The first is DISTRACTION. There are so many things that distract us and take us out of ourselves on a day-to-day basis, not the least being, the 24 hour digital world we live in. Whether it be social media, watching YouTube videos, Netflix or Foxtel, there's so much you can tune into any second of the day and never have to be alone with yourself, your thoughts and your feelings. Distraction is a huge blockage that can get in the way of knowing how you really feel. Did you know that the statistics around how often people pick up their phone is amazing. It’s about once every five or 10 minutes. And the number of people who, the first thing they do in the morning is not check in with themselves, but check in with what random people are doing on Facebook or Instagram. Hands up if you can relate to either of these things. I know I definitely get hooked into this from time to time. The next three obstacles I’m grouping together and calling them REASONS. This covers justification, blame and shame. In these situations you can identify what you are feeling but you are stepping into your logical mind instead of allowing yourself the experience. In JUSTIFICATION you are explaining your feelings. For example. “Oh, I'm feeling pretty tired, but I didn't sleep real well. And you know, maybe if I've gone to bed early or I wouldn't feel quite so tired” or “I'm feeling okay today, but you know, I had time to myself and I was able to go for a walk and unlike other days where I don't get that sort of time”. BLAME is when you are attributing your feelings to what someone else did. For example, “I'm feeling really angry and it's your fault because you cut me off” or “it's your fault because you didn't do the dishes”. “I'm feeling really frustrated because they didn't ring me when they were supposed to”. So your emotion is all about what someone else did to you. I'm not saying some of these things didn't happen and some of them might not have contributed to your frustration or your anger or your happiness or whatever you're feeling. However, allowing yourself to go down this train of thought is taking you away from what you are feeling right now and interfering with your ability to experience that emotion fully. The next reasoning obstacle is SHAME.
0 Comments
Journaling can help you find and connect with your authentic self. Have you ever felt lost? Like me, have you felt that somewhere along the way you took a wrong turn, veered of the path, or just became bamboozled with what life threw at you? It can feel like a battle to create your own space in a world that is often driven by consumerism, material success and 'progress'. However, there is a growing movement of people who know that tapping into personal and universal energy can create a sense of oneness and wholeness that transcends the artificial. Welcome to this slow, quiet corner of the world, where you can find practical ways to claim your own space and connect with yourself, others, the environment and beyond. And you don’t have to claim this space in a huge way with lots of trumpets blaring. Confidence can be found in the quiet determination as you actively connect with and pursue what is important to you. When you discover what matters to you and connect with your values you become part of the movement that is aiming to heal the world. Now, that’s exciting. There are many ways to actively connect and pursue what is important to you. Counselling, coaching, manifesting, prayer, meditation, visualisation, goal setting, intention setting, to name a few. It can be good to start with stepping into some quiet by turning off your phone and taking a break from your online world. One way of reconnecting with your authentic self is through writing, or journaling. If you have never tried tapping into the thoughts and emotions inside you in this way, I encourage you to give it a go. However, many people find there is a slight problem with this. Maybe you have experienced putting aside the time, sitting down to write....and then ....your mind goes blank. You know that your mind isn't actually blank. In fact you have 10's of 1,000s of thoughts each day. What is probably stopping you is the thought of not getting it right.
Or maybe the quiet is unnerving. We get so used to multi tasking that doing anything without additionally listening or watching something feels wrong. How to kickstart your writing habitHow to work out what matters the most
The most important thing when you first start is to create the habit of writing. To help you get started, I have created a 14 day Self-Connection journal, specifically to kickstart your journaling process. Kim Ross Child Psychologist, Fierce Self-Care Advocate and Founder of Positive Young Minds --------------------- ps Positive Young Minds combines evidence backed knowledge and the experience of working with 1000s of children, adolescents, and parents for over 17 years when working with you and/or or your child. You are welcome to book a private consultation where I can work with you to support your own wellbeing and help you connect with that sense of calm you are looking for. |
Categories
All
Disclaimer* These articles are provided by Kim Ross, Psychologist for general information and education . They are not designed to be used for therapy.. If you are experiencing stress please contact your GP or mental health professional.
AuthorKim Ross is an Online Psychologist and Founder of Positive Young Minds and Private Practice Sustainability. |