5 Techniques For Emotion Management And A Better Life

Things happen in our daily lives that affect us and that we cannot control. The way we respond to these problems determines the quality of our lives. One great way to deal with these complexities is to use techniques to control emotions. These techniques help us to be confident and competent in every moment and circumstance.

Antonio Damasio, a well-known Portuguese physician and neurologist, reminds us in his book that the world of emotions was of really little interest to the scientific world until the 20th century. Scientists already had the great work of William James. For many neuroscience and behavioral experts, this was more than enough. Damasio was one of those who led others to this area. He tried to empirically understand how emotions affect the choices we make.

Emotions and the emotional world form a sophisticated mechanism that is directly related to our thoughts and behaviors. It is really helpful to understand these processes. If we can control them, we can use them to our advantage. This helps us shape our lives the way we want to. In addition to this, we can also be more confident in ourselves.

Let’s see next how we can accomplish this.

Everyday techniques for controlling emotions

Every decision, every thought, every step we take in our daily lives is cast with some kind of emotion. Everything has a purpose, or every thing reminds us of something. There are always some unknown motives or hidden fears. We can find all this origin in the structure of the brain, which is as amazing as it is complex. We are now talking about the limbic system.

This area of ​​the brain is responsible for much of who we are and what we do. However, we will not let it bring out the best in ourselves. Sometimes our feelings obscure our concentration and thoughts. We act or react unreasonably. We prevent ourselves from doing what we want or we feel like everything is getting out of hand.

To avoid or reduce such situations, there is nothing better than appropriate techniques for controlling emotions. Let’s look at examples of these.

1. Thought control

Cognitive behavioral therapy often has great suggestions for emotion management strategies. One thing that can be very helpful is to keep these tips in mind:

• We cannot radically change our feelings. But if we develop our spiritual focus, we can regulate them.
• If we are ruled by fear, anxiety, or sorrow, we must stop the flow of thoughts that feed negativity. We need to say “enough now.” Then we need to direct our thoughts to something constructive and useful.
• For example, tomorrow’s presentation is going to go bad, I’m going to look pretty silly ⇔ I’m well prepared for my presentation, I know my topic and I’m going to enjoy sharing it with others I’ve spent so much time on.

2. Expanding the focus

People tend to see the world through a pipeline. We focus on one thing and focus all our thoughts and feelings on just that. We forget how healthy it is to take a step back and see the world from a broader perspective. This allows us to ventilate our thoughts, to distance ourselves from harmful people, situations, and habits.

That is, every time we feel stuck or stressed, or when we lack inspiration, we have to distance ourselves. We need to look up and look at life from a broader perspective. After all, the world is full of opportunities.

3. Deep breathing

We’ve talked a lot about different deep breathing techniques. This is a simple and effective way to regulate and manage emotions. We can use these every time we are stuck or feel overwhelmed. To do this we just have to go to a peaceful and relaxing place. Then we need to follow these instructions:

• Sit up straight.
• Inhale through the nose for about 5 seconds. Try to direct all the air to the abdominal area. The goal is to practice breathing using the diaphragm.
• Hold your breath for about 6 seconds.
• Then exhale orally for about 7 seconds.
• This cycle needs to be repeated several times to feel the serenity flooding within us.

4. Visualization and mental trials

Another effective and useful technique for emotional control is visualization. We have certainly all done this at some point. We can anticipate all possible things that go wrong – failures, embarrassing encounters, omissions, etc. Our minds are experts in imagining catastrophic situations. However, we often don’t imagine how to solve them if they happened to happen. Our visualization ends up being a kind of constant worry.

• This is our responsibility. That’s why visualization is so useful. We can visualize what we would do if our worst nightmares came true.
• For example, we can imagine being fired from our work. We can also visualize what we would say in a dispute with our colleague,  or how we would react if a partner shows indifference to us.

All of this helps us be prepared to respond appropriately (if any of these really did happen).

5. Change and positive expectations

There are cycles in life. Sometimes we have to reform certain dimensions of ourselves. Especially this complex psychological hard drive that we all have. We must remember that we all experience insignificant stages in life; moments of apathy and negative emotions that grip us like some strange and invisible rust.

When that happens, we need to remember that it is normal. Motivation, desire, and positivity are dynamic and need new inspiration so they don’t get stuck. That is, every time we feel negative or stuck, we have to tell ourselves that it is time to change.

When something stays the same for too long, it becomes stagnant. That is why it is important to challenge ourselves in new, different ways. This helps us change our emotional flow. We must do this with a sense of eager anticipation. Let’s trust ourselves, and let’s trust that what comes against us is good and it will help us move forward. Let’s find new inspiration, let’s give ourselves an existential hill start. This enriches our lives and makes it more interesting…

Don’t hesitate to use these simple emotion management techniques. Why wait for a better life when it can get right away?