Defining “emotional wellness”?
The capacity of an individual to deal with the range of feelings and experiences that they encounter during their lives constitutes a person’s emotional wellness, which is also referred to as emotional health or emotional wellbeing. “an awareness, understanding, and acceptance of our feelings, and our ability to manage effectively through challenges and change,” is how the National Center for Emotional Wellbeing defines “emotional wellness.”
The Development of Emotional Health Throughout History
According to the Global Wellness Institute, the decade of the 1950s marked the beginning of a new era in which people began to place a greater emphasis on their overall wellness. Traditional wellness practices have been practiced for thousands of years, such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine; nevertheless, Western cultures did not start thinking as effectively about wellness until more recently.
No unique single person is credited with having thought of the concept of emotionally healthy living. However, over the past few decades, there has been a gradual but steady growth in the awareness that it is physically impossible to live a healthy and happy life if one does not feel emotionally well. This realization is now a central focus of the entire wellness movement. The fact that October is designated as Emotional Wellness Month highlights the growing significance that a lot of people place on this idea.
How Your Emotional Health Affects Every Aspect Of Your Life
You may be unaware of the many different aspects of your life in which your emotional wellness, or lack thereof, plays a role. So let’s look at how your life is affected by your capacity to recognize, comprehend, and control your emotions.
Relationships
Relationships It is essential for us to have a solid grasp of our points of view on various topics before we can have meaningful exchanges with other people. In addition, if we want satisfying and healthy relationships with other people, we must calmly and appropriately argue with them. Sometimes we don’t see eye to eye with other people.
If you cannot effectively manage your feelings, it will be challenging for you to control the emotions of others. Our ability to maintain a healthy emotional state affects all our professional or personal interactions. The more emotionally well we are, the more assistance and care we can provide to those we love and respect, allowing us to connect and relate to others in the best possible way.
The Balance Between Work and School
It doesn’t matter if you’re already a few decades into your chosen profession or if you’re still trying to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life; the capacity to deal with problems as they happen is essential to your success. Better results in your academic and professional life can be achieved when you are aware of and able to manage your feelings, remain optimistic in the face of adversity, and move ahead from difficult situations.
The State of One’s Mind
Although it may not be immediately visible, a significant component of your total mental health and wellness is the state of your emotional health. Although this is a fact that applies to everyone, it may have an even greater bearing on the lives of individuals who struggle with mental health illnesses and issues. Therefore, you will have the most success in navigating how to deal with your mental health difficulties if you are in touch with and able to cope with your feelings and emotions as you learn how to deal with your mental health challenges.
The Repercussions of Having Poor Emotional Health
Because being in a negative emotional state is stressful, not being able to navigate through life while maintaining a positive emotional state can result in several undesirable effects. One of these outcomes is the inability to work through life in a positive emotional state. Here are several examples:
- Stress is known to lower immunity by weakening the immune system
- The effects of stress on blood pressure over time can be seen in hypertension.
- Symptoms of preexisting conditions can become even more severe as a direct result of stress’s harmful effects.
- Concerns Relating to Relationships
- Difficulties at one’s place of employment having trouble concentrating
The Numerous Advantages of Maintaining Optimal Emotional Health
To the same degree that having poor emotional health can cause significant issues in your life, good emotional wellbeing can help you survive despite these challenges. The following is a short list of the numerous advantages that come with having a healthy emotional state:
- Your connections with other people have the potential to reach their full potential.
- Reducing stress can lower the risk of sickness and boost your immune system.
- Being positive can boost your productivity and help you achieve more in your daily life.
How to Achieve Your Optimal Level of Emotional Health
As you now have a better understanding of how essential emotional health is to living a healthy life, you are probably asking if there is anything in particular that you can do to ensure that your emotional health is at its very optimum. To our good fortune, no shortage of pursuits can contribute to improved mental health. So continue reading to get the knowledge that will assist you in enhancing and bettering your state of mind.
Putting Mindfulness into Practice
Being mindful means paying attention to and focusing on the here and now. Mindfulness encourages us to actively participate in our lives rather than going through the motions on autopilot, and it has the potential to boost both our physical and emotional wellbeing. Running and eating are only two examples of activities in which practicing mindfulness can benefit.
Make Connections and Engage in Conversation
You don’t have to go through this experience alone if you don’t want to! Emotional wellbeing involves being in touch with and managing one’s feelings, but a significant portion of our emotional lives is spent interacting with the people we know and love. Therefore, it’s essential to make it a point to talk about how you’re feeling with other people since this will help you better comprehend those feelings. Furthermore, for you to have exposure to various viewpoints, you should inquire about other people about the emotions they are experiencing.
If you want to have a better understanding of other people’s perspectives on life, you should make an effort to connect with people whose demographics differ from your own. One of the many advantages of cultivating relationships with other people and maintaining open lines of communication is improving one’s emotional health.
Take Control of Stress
The successful management of stress is essential to maintaining both mental and physical health. When beginning practice to manage stress, it is helpful to experiment with various activities to determine which ones suit you best and make you feel better. For example, you may try deep breathing exercises, going on a walk, using an app, or watching a YouTube video to guide you through a simple meditation. Alternatively, you could take a bath.
Take Responsibility for Your Own Physical Health
It is common for us to divide our physical selves from our emotional selves, yet as you have seen in this article, the two aspects of ourselves are intimately interwoven. Therefore, if you work on improving your physical health, you’ll also see an uptick in your mental wellbeing.
Endorphin is one of the chemicals our bodies create that makes us feel good. One easy method to improve your emotional wellness is participating in activities that raise your endorphin levels. Endorphin production can be boosted by various activities, including dancing and laughing.
Strive to Have a Balanced Life
As a culture, we spend a lot of time discussing the importance of having a healthy balance between work and life. This is because individuals began to recognize that when they worked an excessive amount, they did not have time for personal relationships, for relaxing, or for having fun.
It would help if you found a healthy balance between the things you do for work and what you do for fun to be emotionally well. Two easy steps that may be taken to achieve this balance include scheduling specific time for leisure activities like going to the gym or going on a hike and establishing clear boundaries about the hours spent at work.
Invest in Sleep
Your sleeping patterns and practices are what’s referred to as your “sleep hygiene.” When you have a good night’s rest, you increase the likelihood that you will feel well when you wake up. You can improve your sleep hygiene by engaging in certain activities, such as keeping a regular bedtime, cutting back on coffee later in the day, and avoiding overeating in the hours before going to bed.
Kim’s Final Thoughts…
When taken individually, each of these adjustments may appear to be a relatively small step, yet, when combined, you may discover that you can observe significant enhancements. Emotional health is essential to living a long and fulfilling life, and boosting your emotional wellbeing can be accomplished with the help of any one or more of these simple techniques.
