How much attention do you pay to your emotional life? Do you actively tend to your emotional wellness, or are your feelings more of an inconvenient or inconsequential afterthought?
Emotional wellness truly does impact all areas of our lives - including our happiness, health and success. So in case you haven’t paid much attention to your feelings or learned much about them before now, here’s an intro to emotional wellness and why our feelings matter.
What is emotional wellness?
Having a healthy emotional life is a lifelong practice. It is noticing, feeling, understanding and honouring ALL of your feelings. So not just your “positive” feelings (which of course we prefer, and want to experience as often as possible), but also our “negative” feelings which are immensely important too. Together, all of our emotions help us effectively manage the inevitable ups and downs of life. They all serve a purpose in a healthy human experience.
Emotional health is one of the four essential aspects of whole wellness. It’s interconnected with the other aspects: physical, mental and spiritual health. And often, emotional health is the missing piece of the wellness puzzle that makes all the difference.
Why do feelings matter?
With the knowledge that feelings are an integral part of yourself, you may wonder why they’re worthy of your loving attention. For starters, their evolutionary purpose keeps us safe, smart and ensures our survival. Hooray for that! But you may be even more interested in how else feelings impact your modern daily life at a practical level.
In his book “Permission to Feel”, Marc Brackett, the director of Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence, offers these specific benefits of emotional wellness. Here are five areas in our everyday lives where feelings are most influential.
Our feelings matter most because . . .
And if all of that isn’t enough incentive, remember the secondary benefits that your emotional wellness have on all areas of your life. When you are well, you are well equipped to effectively navigate all the other areas in your life for the better. Let’s use business as an example.
When YOU are the greatest asset of your business, your emotional health is essential to your business’ success.
So which of these benefits is the most inspiring reason for you to nurture your emotional wellness? Let us know in the comments below.
And remember that you matter, so your feelings matter too. Follow your heart to the results that matter most to you!
Nicole Moorey coaches women entrepreneurs to consistently prioritize their own self-care needs and emotional wellness, so they can give their best to themselves and their businesses.
She’s pleased to lead HHW Thunder Bay as Branch Director: Facebook
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