Hey guys Emma here I just wanted to let you know that this video is one segment
from my much more in-depth course on coping skills and self-care. The course
is on udemy.com and there's a link in the description with a coupon code where
you can get a massive discount. So, if you wanna learn more coping skills or ways
to manage your emotions when they're really intense, check out the link in the
description. Okay back to the video.
Emotions are intense, emotions are beautiful, emotions are what make us feel
alive. But emotions can also be scary, overwhelming, painful, exhausting, and
sometimes even seem unbearable. When we're feeling highly emotional, the
thinking part of our brain tends to shut down. Whether we're being swept away in
love or carried away in anger, emotions can make us all act a little stupid. But
that doesn't mean that emotions are bad. Feeling joy and sadness is what connect
us to others. Feeling stress and pride help us be productive, feeling fear can
help us take action to be safe. Emotions serve as powerful motivation to
take action and engage with life, but often these emotions can be overwhelming.
When emotions run high it's essential to know how to calm yourself down, to start
thinking clearly and make good choices with your actions. Every section of this
course teaches strategies to cope with your emotions by using your senses,
practicing relaxation, or using temporary distraction as a tool. And I would call
these backdoor approaches. Turning on your calming response without directly
addressing emotions. This section is going to focus on a short-term emotion
coping skills. Where we'll discuss how to face and feel emotions in a healthy way.
Allowing yourself to express your emotions without frantically trying to
avoid them, lets you work through them slowly, carefully, and wholeheartedly.
Later in this course, in the section on self-care, we'll dive into some
longer-term strategies to keep you out of the rough patches. And you'll learn
some strategies to process through and resolve emotions, but for this section
we're gonna focus on these short-term coping skills to help get you through
the rough patches. Here's an example from one of my friends. "My husband works for
the children's Justice Center as a program coordinator and as part of his
job he has the heavy task of listening, watching, and transcribing all interviews
when an allegation of abuse against a child is made. As you can imagine that
takes a lot out of him. On days that his a particularly difficult interview he
comes home and picks up a paintbrush. He loves making fun works of art for our
kids and anyone that he thinks could use a boost that day.
It's his release, he channels his feelings from the day into his art and
turns them into something amazing." Here are some examples of emotion coping
skills. Do a brain dump, see the exercise in the next video. Talk with a friend or
someone who's not involved. Journal about it, write frequently about what's going
on and take the time to explore it. Tell a cat or pet anything you're feeling, and
even tell them the worst thing you've ever done. His calm reaction may help you
feel reassured that you're okay. Go someplace that you feel safe and allow
yourself to cry. Write a song, poem, or short story expressing how you feel. Take
a moment to give yourself some credit. Notice and write down some of the hard
things you've done that day. Give yourself some credit for the little
successes like getting out of bed, checking something off your to-do list,
staying calm in a tough situation, etc. Practice mindfulness or meditation. You
could use the app stop breathe and think. Pray, reach out to a higher power. Read
sacred or inspirational text. Write a list of things that you are grateful for.
Express emotions through art or music. Paint quickly focusing on the color. Use
clay to shape your feelings abstractly. Create a playlist of songs that express
your emotions. For example, a sad day playlist, or an angry playlist. Play an
instrument, you can choose a song that matches your emotions. Sing it out to
a song that expresses how you feel. Or, use an app like mooditude or insight
timer to track your emotions. Check in with yourself throughout the day and
take a moment to process your emotions and thoughts instead of letting them
build up. Take a few minutes before bed to pay attention to your feelings. Write
about them, or draw a mind map, and notice the different parts. You may have a proud
part of you ,and an angry part at the same time. Take a minute to acknowledge
each of your parts and listen to them, give them a minute to be heard.
Then remind yourself that it's okay to feel, and everything is going to be
alright. Okay so I've given you a couple of ideas
of how to practice emotion coping skills. In the next section we're going to talk
about going in through the back door, and calming our brain by using sensory
coping skills.