Understanding and Protecting Your Emotional Health

The first wealth is health.

Health means more than having a healthy body.

Health relies also on your social and emotional well-being.

Caring for others is an emotional experience.

It requires what we call “emotional labor”.

Our emotional health affects the way we care for others.

Your emotions are your own.

No one can tell you how you “should” feel.

Only you can control your response to your feelings. Others don’t have power over your feelings (unless you allow them to).

Emotional literacy = being able to recognize and talk about our feelings and others’ feelings.

Feelings and emotions begin as sensations in the body.

Putting a name to your feelings is the first step to managing them. “Name it to tame it!”

Amygdala hijack! When we “flip our lids”.

Our emotions are messages to ourselves.

Learning to “read” emotions leads to better understanding of self and others.

Our emotions tell us about what we want, need, believe, expect, and value.

When we become aware of our feelings, we can learn to read our emotional messages.

We connect best with ourselves and others when we have more of our “whole selves”.

Self-Aware: Emotion EducationWorkshop #1: Handout of Key Points

Dr. Ellen Abell, Alabama Cooperative Extension System