Master Your Emotions
Mastering your emotions enables you to transform your relationship with anxiety, and take back control of your mind, body and behaviour.
Emotional mastery is the key to living a life that you desire, living a life by design, not default.
Anxiety is an emotion so it is incredibly powerful when you can choose how you feel, every moment of every day, no matter what is going on around you. It sounds too good to be true, right?
But it is a skill we can all master, as our thoughts, feelings and emotions are all within our own control. We have a choice. The thoughts, feelings and emotions we choose are a direct result of the meaning we give to what we focus on, the language we use and our physiology.
Now I am not saying it is easy! But when we understand these three “inputs”, we can change the way we think and feel.
Focus
Have you heard of the saying “Where focus goes, energy flows”.
What I mean by this is whatever you’re focusing on grows in intensity. If you focus on your anxiety symptoms or your fears about something that hasn’t yet happened, you become even more aware of your fears, they intensify and then you focus on them even more. It is all too easy to spiral.
Instead, you want to focus on the outcome, and not the fear itself. If you are anxious about an upcoming event, how will you feel after you have achieved this and the anxiety has subsided? When you next find yourself feeling anxious, focus on feeling proud or calm after the event.
When you shift your focus past your fear, your actions will lead you there.
Language
Language can be both internal or external. What is going on with the voice inside your head? What questions do you ask yourself and what do you tell yourself? Likewise, what are you saying out loud to others, or hearing from them?
Asking yourself “Why do I feel so anxious right now?” will give you a very different response to asking yourself “What is something positive I can learn from how I am feeling right now?”. The first question will keep you in a negative state of emotions, where as the second question can help you see the positives and allow you to think about how you can move forward instead of staying stuck.
The language patterns you use will play a substantial role in the meaning you give a situation, and therefore the emotion that situation creates within you.
When you feel negative emotions taking over, look at the language you are using about your situation. How can you redirect it to create a more positive and empowering state?
Physiology
Emotion is created by motion so start by moving your body. Walk around, jump up and down, or just swing your arms!
Whatever you’re feeling right now is directly related to your physiology.
If we see someone down in the dumps, they have their head lowered, their shoulders hunched and they tend to move slowly. On the other hand, if we see someone confident and happy, their head is held high, they are standing tall and their shoulders are thrown back. They look powerful.
If you take the powerful position, smile and breathe, you will find that you too are able to put yourself in a more confident state. This power pose helps you to make better decisions, and feel more capable in your abilities to step outside your comfort zone.
By understanding and influencing our focus, language and physiology, we are able to create new meaning to the situation and the emotions we associate with it.
We can choose to spend more time in a positive and resourceful emotional state, and choice to step outside of our comfort zone and enjoy life.
If You Need Further Support
If you need further support with you or a loved ones Mental Health, a trained Anxiety Specialist can prescribe a personalised plan to understand the root cause of anxiety, as well as help develop coping strategies that are focused around individual needs.
Taking care of your mental health is an essential part of your overall well-being. Left unresolved, anxiety can spiral out of control and have a significant impact on relationships, work, school and family life.
It is my belief that no one needs to struggle with anxiety, we just need the tools and techniques to overcome it.
So if you want to take the next steps to have a happier life where your fears no longer hold you back, click the link below and book a free no obligation consultation call.
Other Resources
Find out Is Anxiety An Emotion?
Discover a fast way to Reduce Anxiety Right Now
Watch some Breathing Techniques to Reduce Anxiety
Know which Questions to Ask to Reduce Anxiety When Journaling
How to have a Supportive Conversation about Mental Health
Download my eBook on Workplace Stress and Anxiety