Holistic freedom is a term that defines liberation within every area of daily life. One of the most important elements of our day-to-day demeanor is our emotional well-being. Every interaction we encounter can either positively or negatively affect our next actions. Whether we allow our undesirable experiences to shape our attitude is completely reliant upon us. If you find yourself feeling depressed, irritable, anxious or hopeless, you may be suffering the effects of emotional burdens. Keep reading to learn how to regain control of your emotional freedom.
Emotions can be tricky. Sometimes we feel stuck dwelling on emotions that we’d rather not have. Other times, we struggle to feel the emotions that we think we should be experiencing. Maybe you aren’t as happy as you’d like to be. Maybe you feel angrier than you know how to adequately control. You get frustrated and label yourself as an emotional wreck, but what’s really going on? Often times, negative emotions can present themselves as anger or embarrassment, when really they are masking deeper emotions that haven’t been expressed.
Anger is frequently rooted in fear, rejection or hurt. Embarrassment usually follows vulnerability or isolation. People struggle to find genuine solutions to their negative feelings because they regularly tend to the secondary emotions instead of the primary causes. Occasionally, even primary feelings are difficult to sooth. So what’s the proper approach? Rest assured, there are many techniques and best practices that, when practiced habitually, promote healing and emotional freedom.
Try:
- Being Emotionally Accountable
- Be open to the fact that you may be causing some of the emotional pain you’re feeling. Consider the part you play and accept a leadership role when it comes to being in control of your feelings.
- Practicing Awareness
- Being aware is a life skill that has endless benefits. Emotional awareness helps you identify triggers and remove yourself from situations that are causing a spike in your negative emotions. Awareness also helps you recognize what causes your happiest moments so you can duplicate them to increase the positivity.
- Opening up to Others
- Find a trusted companion and vent about your feelings. If someone hurts you, let that person know. If you caused emotional pain, apologize.
- Practicing Forgiveness
- Forgiveness is hard, but necessary. The emotional baggage that comes with carrying around negativity from the people and situations that hurt you, only causes you more damage – don’t allow outside forces to have such an effect of your life.
- Altering Your Perspective
- Perspective is everything. A simple shift of thought can make all the difference. Instead of focusing on the bad, cancel those thoughts and replace them with the opposite.
- Changing Your Lifestyle
- Think about what causes you the most strife and emotional turmoil. Now create a plan to remove it from your life for good.
- Identifying Productive Outlets
- Negative emotions can leave us feeling frazzled and upset. If you never release that tension, the pressure mounts and results in an outburst. To avoid this, find a healthy outlet to channel your anger. Rage rooms, physical activity and recreational hobbies are all perfect coping activities.
- Granting Yourself Permission to Fully Feel Your Emotions
- Many people try to avoid the feelings that they deem unfavorable. Grief and sadness are two of the most popular emotions that get pushed out of the way. The problem is if you never allow yourself the time to experience those feelings, you effectively remove your opportunity to heal. As uncomfortable as it may be, you must give yourself the chance to feel and heal.
- Treating Yourself with More Mercy
- Holding yourself (and your feelings) to unrealistic standards does more harm than good. Remember that each person is unique and you shouldn’t compare yourself to others.
- Seeking Therapy or Medical Attention
- If your negative emotions feel unbearable or overwhelming to the point of toxic coping methods or a desire to self-harm (more info here), seek professional treatment immediately. Clinical depression, chemical imbalances and emotional disorders are very real. Conditions such as these require assistance from professionals who are trained to handle these matters. Never hesitate to make that call.
The goal of emotional freedom is reach the point where your negative feelings no longer control you. Emotional freedom leads way to overall freedom, which, when achieved, produces overall joy in every part of your life. Remember these 10 tips and take the next step toward holistic freedom.
