Your emotional awareness refers to how deeply in touch you are with the emotions and feelings within you and your ability to regulate and process them. Emotional awareness is considered just one aspect of emotional intelligence, as it also refers to how deeply you recognize the emotions of others and yourself.
If you have struggled to identify and discern your emotions from one another or have the desire to develop your emotional intelligence, this blog post is for you.
Awareness Is The Pathway
Allow me to put my coaching hat on and remind you that awareness is the pathway to change. You cannot grow in an area or change a habit you’re unaware of. The same is true with our emotions and our ability to regulate them!
Having awareness of your emotions and the range of emotions you may be experiencing is the first step to developing emotional intelligence.
Now that we understand why awareness is so important, especially regarding our emotions, let’s dive into why you’re here: HOW TO CREATIVELY RAISE YOUR EMOTIONAL AWARENESS.
You cannot grow in an area or change a habit that you’re not aware of.
1. Expand Your Emotional Vocabulary
Though I have been on an emotional awareness journey for pretty much my entire life, since my early age anxiety diagnosis, I genuinely believe that it’s the act of living, breathing and experiencing our range of emotions, including feeling deep discomfort with them, that allows for us to really develop our own emotional resiliency, intelligence and awareness.
What allowed me to understand emotional vocabulary as a concept was the exemplary book Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown. This book is like an encyclopedia of the human soul, heart and psyche, containing the entire range of emotions we feel. What’s important (whether you read the book or not) is to discern emotions from one another by expanding your vocabulary when it comes to emotions.
For example, perhaps you feel what you identify as ‘sad.’ Maybe that’s the only way you know how to define this emotion. But is it true that you are ‘sad?’ Or could you possibly be lonely? Or are you tired? Or vulnerable?
When you expand your emotional vocabulary, you’re actively raising your emotional awareness and building your emotional intelligence.
When you expand your emotional vocabulary, you’re actively raising your emotional awarnees.
2. Commune With Nature Through Exercise or Meditation
When you take the time to commune with nature, meaning getting in touch with her however you know how, you can get back in touch with your purest sense of self.
It’s when we’re alone with ourselves that we’re able to hear ourselves.
You can allow yourself to play with what feels best here: a walk, hike, or run in the woods. A forest bath (where you simply sit on the forest floor and allow yourself to bask in its healing nature). A meditation.
It’s when we’re alone with ourselves that we’re able to hear ourselves.
3. Draw or Paint Through Your Emotions
You will love this one if you identify as a creative soul or an artist. This is a pretty open invitation for you to create. Here are a couple of ideas for you:
- I like to draw through my emotions by treating them as archetypes and drawing divine figures or symbols for them
- I’ve worked with clients who have characterized their emotions into cute little critters – another beautiful way of working through them
The idea behind this is to be able to play and dialogue with our emotions and again be able to discern them from one another. Another benefit is reducing the fear of certain emotions by facing them through therapeutic art.
Bonus Tip: Expand Your Emotional Awareness Through Intentional Journaling
Journaling is one of the best ways to work through your emotions. When you’re getting started with journaling or feeling in a slump with it, having some guided prompts in your back pocket is incredibly helpful. Download yours now!
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