Emotions and Health: Part 4

The previous blog post we learned about method that can be utilized in overcoming and combating negative emotions that are harming our mind and thus our health. Now we will learn of ways to prevent negative emotions from infecting our mind and harming us and how we can utilize these emotions to understand what is and why aspect of our lives might be bothering us, enabling us to push forward in our lives in the direction we want.

Having social contact with people who maintain a positive mindset allows us to express some of our problems and find solutions to help better our lives and move forward. Having a flexible mindset is beneficial in combating stress and other negative emotions. It prevents our mind from becoming blocked, which creates stress, and instead enables us to think of new ways to solve problems. A flexible mindset helps prevent our mind from obsessing over negative emotions as when the mind obsesses over negative emotions a buildup of stress can occur.To avoid this “obsession stress”, it is beneficial to prevent ourselves from obsessing over negative emotions and what caused them, not to the point of avoiding or hiding them by pretending to be happy, but to remove ourselves from them enough so that they do not overtake everything else in our lives.

Our emotional state is influenced by our environment and the situations we are in. Writing our thoughts and emotions down in a journal can help us identify what we are feeling and what is causing or affecting these emotions, particularly if these feelings are long-term. We are constantly thinking and moving, and our moods can fluctuate accordingly. For short term emotions, it can sometimes be best to simply acknowledge them and let them pass. There are times when we can give our emotions too much attention, which can cause us to focus on them and make them worse. Nevertheless, it can be motivating to make note of positive thoughts and can be helpful to monitor chronic or long term stress caused by negative emotions.

Writing down negative emotions can help us determine what is causing them and what we can do to change them or handle them more effectively. If you find yourself constantly irritated or angry whenever work is brought up or thought about, then you can look into what it is about your job that is causing these feelings. Then, you can work out a possible solution. For some, that might mean changing careers. For others, that may not be currently possible, and so they may change the way they handle their emotions through relaxation techniques such as meditation, painting, or music.

If our negative thoughts and emotions are directed towards others, then it is best to find out why. Perhaps we are angry because we feel that this person ignored us, or was rude. This information can help us take action, by finding a way to discuss the issue with the person or to realize that we are dwelling on something that is not as important in the long term as we had initially believed. If we find we are unable to confront the other person or mend relationships, then we need to learn to let these feelings go because the only person they are hurting is ourselves. Bitterness tends to cause the person feeling it more harm than the person the emotion is directed to. The negative emotions or thoughts may not be directed toward someone else, but toward ourselves. We may have habits that frustrate us that we need to work on changing, or we may blame ourselves for making mistakes. It is important to foster forgiveness not only toward others but ourselves as well. Dwelling on our mistakes or failures prevents us from creating the positive, healthy mindset that is needed in order to change. We need to let go of blame in order to make room for learning and healing.

These negative emotions can be a signal from our body letting us know that something is not right, whether it is our health or our lifestyle, and needs changed. Overviewing these emotions, if possible without being overwhelmed, by writing them down or using other forms of contemplative thought processes can help determine why we have these thoughts and their source, allowing us to change or overcome the issue.

It is important to not only write down negative thoughts, but positive ones as well. These positive thoughts, emotions, and memories can give us something to look back on when we need an emotional boost.

Various activities and techniques such as listening to music or guided imagery audio, meditation, yoga, and Tai Chi are able to calm our mind and release the negative emotions. Deep breathing by taking 15 deep breaths into the abdomen helps to expel negative emotions from our system, lowering heart rate and blood pressure almost immediately. If an argument starts to escalate or a situation is causing stress, taking a moment to remove yourselves from the situation and take 15 deep breaths while reassuring that all is good and you are in control will help lower stress levels. When calm, a person can go back to the discussion or stressful situation. If the situation still escalates then it best to leave if possible.

Emotions play a larger role than just in how we mentally respond to situations in our surroundings and social interactions, it has profound effects on how the body is able to function externally and internally. Negative emotions impair the body’s ability to function by lowering immunity; preventing wound healing; causing anxiety; increasing blood pressure and risk of diabetes and cancer; and increasing feelings of pain, tiredness, and insomnia, along with many other health complications. Positive emotions are very much the opposite in both how they make us feel emotionally and in the way they affect us physically. They lower blood pressure, increase our healing capabilities, improve memory, allow for proper function in the nerve system, boost the immune system, and help with proper sleep, cellular repair, and efficient heart function, among many other benefits. Positive emotions and feelings prevent and reduce the levels of stress hormones in the system, which help in preventing negative emotions from occurring and causing harm. All emotions have a role and purpose in our lives, even negative emotions to an extent. This is why it is important to understand how emotions affect us and what is causing them so we are in control of our emotional state to help us have a positive healthy lifestyle.