My Experience At The Age Of My Mind

What would the world be without emotion? There is one indisputable fact that can not be ignored especially when it comes to those in their adolescent years. The fact of the matter is emotion plays a massive role in one's quality of life. Surely one can appreciate positive emotions such as; joy, peace, excitement, and gratitude, but what becomes of those who lack these positive emotions? Unfortunately, adolescents all over the world have been struggling with overwhelming emotions that are far from positive. These emotions tend to be occasional unwanted feelings but soon reside as habitual moods. The abundance negative emotion that harbors in the minds of those in their teen year has risen to an all-time high, so why is something so obvious seen as a false and even imagined issue? All too often adults advise teens and even each other to put into practice the phrase “Mind over Matter” which suggest using the power of a strong mind to overcome the matters of the negative world in which we inhabit. Although this phrase may be a meant as well-meaning pick me up it may only be a constant reminder of a void in one's mind in which no one seems to think matters. Perhaps the issue with the phrase “Mind over Matter” is the fact that it does not actually matter how strong a person's mind is, but rather how strong the support system of those suffering from the overload of negative emotion known today a depression.

It is also concluded in their research that people who lack emotional expression are inclined to anti-social behaviours. These behaviours are a direct reflection of their mental health. Self destructive acts may take place to suppress emotions. Some of these acts include alcohol and drug abuse, physical fights or vandalism, physiological well being or an absence of a mental disorder from the perspective of ‘positive psychology’ or ‘holism’, mental health may include an individuals ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Mental health can also be defined as and expression of emotions, and as signifying a successful adoption to a range of demands.

Don't shut down your emotions. Embrace them. Your emotions are your compass telling you whether or not you are on track. Use them to help cultivate your passions or motivate you to change situations and circumstances that hold you back from achieving your goals." - Julian Michaels

Through its decentering function, mindfulness allows an individual to step back and see his thoughts, emotion or feelings as temporary, thus opening the door to positive re-appraisal (Garland, Gaylord, & Fredrickson, 2011). Also, the meditative practice can foster the use of better coping strategies. As students develop self-regulation and diminish impulsiveness and distractions, instead of acting out of their automatic pilot, they learn to respond in a more constructive or adequate manner (Garland et al., 2011). Other elements essential to resilience are maintaining positive affect (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2007) and positive relationships (Mikulincer & Florian, 1998), both of which as highlighted before, can be developed through mindfulness.

handle certain things. By doing this, you will not only be improving your emotional wellness, but you will also become a stronger individual.

If I use Peterson’s (2015) advice then if I change my negative thinking into healthy thoughts then it will have a encouraging influence on my emotional schemes, which in turns will change my actions (p 22-23). Peterson’s (2015) concept of handling my “thud” feelings to diminish myself from the Flat-Brain tango during my interpersonal communication was helpful in helping me see that my defensiveness I display when I feel the “thud” emotions is not only making the situation worse, but it also makes me not hear the other person nor allows them to hear me (p

Starting with emotional wellness, I am self-aware of my emotions. In society today, the display of emotions is discouraged, and although my emotions were constantly repressed, I learned to embrace them and adopted the importance of self-awareness from the social work field to better help others. Continuously, I am an introvert, so I am constantly analyzing myself and find ways to improve. I recognized when I am stress, I need to step back to not let my emotions drive me, hence being painfully honest. Instead, I express I need space to deal with my emotions and go back to my homeostasis before resuming a conversation. I do acknowledge I prefer to avoid conflict and need to learn how to resolve conflict in healthy ways.

Emotional wellness is “the ability to be aware of and accept one’s feelings” (UCR, 2014). This dimension brings about positivity only when one is optimistic and continues to live and enjoy life regardless of the disappointments, frustrations, and challenges that come in the way. Paying attention to one’s thoughts, behaviors, and feelings, even though they are negative at times, is key to be able to handle and cope with stress and express emotions appropriately (GRCC, 2016). In order to obtain positive emotional wellness, one can also seek support that will help with appropriate emotional expressions and establish one’s priorities in life. I see myself as an optimistic and competent person. I feel that whenever I face challenges in my life, whether they are personal family problems or things related to school and my friends, I always tell myself that everything will be okay at the end and that thinking negatively and feeling depressed will not solve my problems. However, where I see a risk in my emotional wellness is that I tend to keep my emotions inside. I don’t

Kendra Cherry’s article “Theories of emotion” says that emotion is a complex state of feeling that results in physical and mental changes in behavior. I have chosen the topic of Emotional Expression and relationships. I chose this because I thought that when we experience an emotion that is said to be complex and causes changes in behavior that it is something that should be monitored or managed. On top of that when we express emotions like happiness or anger we should express them correctly. The behaviors we create as a result of our emotions only mean to create reactions that inhibit the behaviors of the people receiving your emotions, and if those emotions aren’t sent correctly things can spiral down pretty quick. I also chose this topic because I feel that I myself am terrible at this. I feel as though I can’t express myself and that I could blow up one day on the wrong person for the wrong reason. I want to avoid that and try to express my feelings. Where I can feel comfortable being vulnerable with the people I care about. I feel as though I shut people out and sometimes it’s not intentional, I just don’t have the words to say what I want to without completely being mean or offensive. I feel like I owe it to the people I care about to talk to them before I lose it one day and just cut them from my life because of myself.

Emotional regulation is the ability of an individual to influence the experience, expression, intensity, or duration of emotions during an emotionally distressing event (Gross, 1998). The two main emotion regulation strategies are cognitive reappraisal, or reevaluating an emotional situation in order to regulate emotions, and expressive suppression, or restricting the expression of emotions (Gross, 2007). Many researchers agree that the emotion regulation strategy employed most often by an individual can have a significant effect on their life (e.g., Arnold, Connelly, Walsh, & Martin Ginis, 2015; Buruck, Dörfel, Kugler, & Brom, 2016; Deater-Deckard, Li, & Bell, 2015). While both strategies regulate emotions, several studies have found that using expressive suppression can be overall less effective (Buruck, Dörfel, Kugler, & Brom, 2016; Schraub, Turgut, Clavairoly, & Sonntag, 2013).

Chapter 8 from Tools for Mindful Living converged on how to mindfully accept my emotions, so they preserve less control over my actions. Emotions, whether positive or negative, acquire the power to modify behaviors, thoughts, and judgments. This power lies controversial, as society dictates the acceptance of emotional responses. For example, many men believe that they must conceal their emotions to prevent shame, while women reside as emotional nurtures, expressing an emotional response for all actions. Existing as a woman who both senses an abundant deal of emotions, yet conceals these emotions, I rest intrigued by what this chapter reading, experience, and meditation experience offered. With an interest in this chapter, I was able to comprehend how recognition of emotions leads to a more attentive experience, as I offer myself to experience without judgment.

I understood that sadness is vital to us as human beings. I became open to the fact that life is inherently difficult and that suffering is a core part of everyone’s universal experience. It means that we are present aware of our environment. Going through sadness also helps us understand other profound emotions. These are deep emotions, for example, grieve or hate. Actually, any emotion that deeply affects us is considered profound. We begin analysing what are the causes of these emotions, why do we need them and how they affect our actions and relationships. We realise that emotions like hatred can be a powerful force which could ruin a lot of our relationships and contaminate our souls. By understading our and other people’s emotions we become kinder, more forgiving and more

Since I was a child, I have naturally suppressed my emotions. Perhaps it was the way I was raised by my parents or me conforming to societal gender roles as a male, but I have never liked it when people know what I am thinking or feeling. However, as I have grown up and become more aware of my emotional management and intelligence, I started to realize not only the importance of being cognizant of my emotions but also the emotions of others. Therefore, I want to reflect and delve deeper into how I express my emotions and relate to the emotions of my relationship partners, close friends, and family members.

The process of learning healthy, functional methods to manage emotional states is a life-long task with key critical periods in early childhood and adolescence. Emotional regulation dysfunction results from a combination of emotional vulnerability that reacts with overly sensitive responses on the part of the patient and an inability to modulate the resulting emotions. Experiences with this type of dysregulation are common, if not typical, of human development and are usually amenable and responsive to newly acquired coping strategies or the restructuring of old ones. When the dysregulation is resilient and persists over time, cognitive distortions, ruminations, and sub-optimal coping strategies will emerge to establish and perpetuate a

In the confinements of my mind, I deny my feelings. It’s a coping strategy that I mistakenly think is healthy and is the right thing to do. At the age of 22 I’m starting to feel the effects of abandoning my emotions. I’m scared to express how I am feeling without others judging me. I find myself wondering exactly when I outgrew emotional bravery. Maybe it got lost somewhere in junior high amidst social anxieties and trying to fit in. I’ve adjusted my expectations, avoiding the hard, the different, and the vulnerable. I’ve learned tricks that closes the gap between reality and expectations just to make it a little easier. Who needs to express their emotions in a healthy manner? Those who are surrounded by me will get what I’m trying to say, right? Wrong. Katsunuma et al. (2015) refers emotional suppression to attempts to avoid or escape from experiencing and being aware of one’s own emotions. In the past, I’ve ran away from family issues, confrontations, and uncomfortable mannerism that should be addressed. By doing so, a chain reaction to every situation in my life, affects me emotionally, socially, and mentally. Research has shown how observation coping strategies promote positive psychological well-being because it plays an important role to help regulate emotions for those who prefer to detach themselves from their own states. For example, during the study, participants were asked to look at a negative emotional picture. Provided by the author, and was asked to remain