Healthy Emotion regulation during Uncertian Times

Healthy Emotion Regulation during Uncertain Times

Managing stress may not be the most important thing on your minds at this time, however it is something we must face to assist with how we function day to day. Yesterday, I participated in a seminar lead by Dr. Mark Brackett, Director of Yale Center of Emotional Intelligence and I wanted to share with you some points that may become helpful as we move forward towards the new normal. Know that it is okay to accept the emotions that you have. Emotions matter and it is imperative that we realize that it is okay to be frustrated, angry, uncertain, and stressed. When we are not properly controlling our emotions we tend to take things out on other people, be less focused on things we need to accomplish and add more stress to our lives. We may indulge in stress eating and over sleeping. Here are a few pointers to assist with regulating our emotions.

·         Practice Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing cultivates deeper awareness of all of our experiences. The difference between normal breathing and mindful breathing is that you are conscious of your breathing and you are purposely watching your breathing. When breathing mindfully, sit tall in your posture, let your eyes close or look down. Breathe naturally. Put a gentle smile on your face. While breathing you can count your breaths, focus on an image, or repeat a positive phrase. 

·         Getting adequate sleep 6-8 hours; know that disturbed sleep disrupts cognitive functions

·         Exercise

Exercising helps produce endorphins that help us to relax 

·         Monitoring Relationships

Unhealthy relationships can add unnecessary stress to our lives. We can practice positive empathy. Empathy is the ability to share and understand others emotions. When you empathize with others try highlighting what is positive in the situation.

·         Managing our thoughts

40% of our well-being has to do with our outlook on life. To do so we can challenge ourselves to thinking more positively. We can change the conversation in our head with positive thoughts. You can use positive self-talks. For example instead of saying “I’m going to lose it", when we are frustrated, “(insert name) take a deep breathe or walk". We can also use positive appraisal. Positive appraisal allows us to look at situations through a different lens. Try putting a different spin on a situation. Know that the cup is either half empty or half full. It simply depends on how we perceive situations. 

·        Manage life smartly

Routines create certainty. We need routines in our sleeping. Going to bed and waking up at a designated time daily. Scheduling meals, and putting time on our schedule for exercising. Consider your best self, how do you want people to remember you? What is it that you want people to say about you? Try setting a best self-intention every morning. Today I am going to do what…Fill in the statement. Always do things that you enjoy.

·         Be a preventionist over an interventionist

I hope there was something in this blog that helps you not just today but in life. What two emotions regulation techniques do you think would benefit you? What challenges do you think may make the techniques difficult and how would you handle those challenges. I would love to hear from you, please share in the comment section below.

I am going to leave you with a thought I learned growing up in sports, practice makes perfect but it also makes consistency. Enjoy your weekend!

 Thank you for reading.

 

A Note to Students From the Counselor: Dealing with Change

Dealing with change

When I think about change I think about consistent movement. As students you will lose teeth, change grade levels, teachers, get new siblings, move to a new neighborhood, city, or state, and even grow up to be successful individuals. These are all changes. Although most of the changes I mentioned many readers may welcome them or at least know that they are possibilities, or even know that no matter how much you'd like to stay in elementary school, you know that middle school and grow up is all a part of life. So what do you do when change comes your way? You adapt! Most of the time you adapt without even realizing you are doing so. The word adapt means to adjust, alter, modify or CHANGE the way we are doing things. Here lately you have experienced a lot of changes, learning from home, not seeing your teachers and friends, your eating may have changed and you may be asked to share and spend a lot more time with your siblings. You may have been asked to do a bit more work around the house to help out. Know that parents and adults are experiencing just as much change as you are. So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to adapt to life as we know it by helping your parents around the house, doing your school work, maybe not challenging your brothers and sisters so much. In classroom guidance we’ve gone over tons of character traits. Remember that character traits are our personal characteristics that makes us who we are. Are you considerate, responsible, kind, caring, sharing, motivated, committed, respectful, just to name a few?

Yes, things have changed for the time being and for some of us in ways that we don't like but we cannot control them. Know that some things in life we cannot control but we always have control over how we respond and react, or in this case adapt! That's called self-control. Self control is our ability to control ourselves, our actions, behaviors and responses. How can you ADAPT? What will you do to ADJUST your attitude and behavior to be more helpful at home? How will you ALTER what you are currently doing to make things better for yourself and the ones around you? How will you MODIFY or CHANGE your personal hygiene and social distancing to make things better for all of us?

Share below in the comment section how you have made changes to adapt to at home.

Thank you for reading!