Emotional Fitness is an important aspect of our holistic health that is often overlooked in this modern world. So it’s no surprise that not everyone really knows what good emotional health even is…
“A state of emotional wellness means you have balance in your life, you can prioritise the things which are important to you. You feed your creativity, develop and maintain satisfying, nurturing and emotionally safe relationships. Cultivate resilience through emotional awareness and continuing to develop skill to successfully navigate life.”
– Kate Tregan Rowe
We need to find the skills and habits in life that allow us to tend to our emotional needs. In nurturing these skills, we can integrate them seamlessly into our everyday lives. This is achieved through doing small things, often. Being emotionally fit & healthy requires self-reflection, plenty of self-care and compassion.
Luckily this is not a complicated process. These skills can be learnt in simple, practical and super effective ways.
This modern world encourages material consumption, promotes busyness and multitasking in all things.
As a result it’s all too easy to lose touch with what supports us to live healthy, balanced lives.
In order to feel emotionally nourished, energised, and relaxed without anxiety, we have to be capable of touching base with our internal world… this requires practice, to gain “insight” into the goings on within us. The messages our bodies, thoughts and emotions are trying to tell us. An example of this with physical health that we all intuitively understand is, if you wake up with a sore throat, it indicates you may be getting ill.
The question is: do you stop to listen to the message and take care of yourself?
Do you even notice the messages?
Our emotions, how we feel, are messages and as a result, they propel us into action. If you are feeling angry, it is for a reason… we need to notice and pay attention to what that anger is trying to tell us.
This attention is pivotal, if we are to enjoy emotional fitness. We all need to work on our ability to be reflective, to listen and be mindful of our interior states.
If we lack the toolkit and skills to cultivate a resilience to modern life’s stress, we are going to feel tired, helpless and kept down.
Connection is integral to emotional well-being! All of us do better together. We thrive when we have time to connect to ourselves, others and nature.
Today’s modern world presents us with the possibility of being connected – without real connection – constantly…
So, it is even more important that we develop the skill-set to navigate our feelings and focus on true connection with each other.
We do not need so many avenues of communication, rather we need to nurture authentic and significant connection.
Real connection supports us, aids us to relieve stress, helps stave off depression and anxiety. It contributes to a complete sense of well-being.
As a society, our world, lives – indeed, many of our relationships – are not in a healthy way…
Why not do, and feel, better?
We need to commit to:
- Working on our internal awareness…
- Learning how to traverse our emotions…
- Connecting authentically.
Children and young adults are now growing up in a world in which they are constantly assailed by ads, surrounded by social media which doesn’t support healthy connections… Which leads to an expectation for instant gratification, and in some ways a lack of real human connection. Compounding age-old human struggles such as; sibling rivalry, bullying, the search for acceptance & a feeling of belonging.
Cultivating the ability to understand, navigate and use our emotions to make good decisions is one of the pillars of emotional fitness!
“Relationships are impacted by how you feel about yourself and others. Your relationship to emotions affects how you function in the world. When you gain an awareness and understanding of feelings, there is an opportunity for empowered choices.”
Being aware of, and able to name, the emotion you are feeling… and then listening to the message within, can help you to make healthier choices with confidence!
Well-honed emotional fitness skills have a huge positive affect on many areas of our life. Relationship depth & quality, good health, life satisfaction, self-efficacy, self-confidence and personal achievement. This skill-set will aid you to better understand yourself, other people and your reactions to any & all situations.
Cultivating Emotional Fitness skills helps with:
- Strong emotions, triggers & outbursts
- Poor attention & a lack of focus
- Anxiety, in all forms & depression
- Feelings of stress & overwhelm
- Improving relationships
- Bullying & being bullied
- Insecurity
- Drive & motivation
- Self-assuredness, confidence!
I love it and can’t wait to travel this endless road myself with you as my sherpa.