There are no good or bad emotions. Emotion imposes itself on us. The body expresses itself. We all need to work on managing our emotions.

If you feel overwhelmed by your emotions, or if they take up too much space in your life. Or on the contrary, if you don’t feel in tune with your emotions. The challenge of good emotional management is to calm you down, whatever your situation, and restore your emotions to their essential function.

But what is an emotion? And how can we learn to manage them better?

What is an emotion?

According to the Larousse dictionary, an emotion is “a sudden disturbance, a fleeting agitation caused by a vivid feeling of fear, surprise, joy, etc.”

Emotions originate from an internal or external trigger. They are interpreted as emergencies by the emotional brain. A bit like an alarm system, they’re there to tell us something. They are our constant companions, enabling us to adapt to every situation in our lives, to derive the greatest possible satisfaction and to avoid obstacles.

Some are pleasant, giving us well-being, pleasure and letting us know that our needs are being met. Others can be more unpleasant, inducing negative feelings in us that what we’re experiencing isn’t right for us, and that a need isn’t being met.

What are the 6 primary emotions?

Faced with an event, an emotion is an automatic reaction that translates into physical sensations. There are 6 universal primary emotions whose facial expressions can be found in all human populations. An emotion can generate associated feelings or affective states.

• Fear: warns us of a threat, and activates our alert system, informing us of anything dangerous or perceived to be dangerous around us. The result is a rush of blood to the muscles, a surge of adrenaline and an accelerated heart rate.
• Anger: is a defensive reaction, defining our sense of limits and self-defense. When someone tries to impose something on us, when our territory is invaded. It triggers a concentration of energy. But don’t confuse anger with aggression.
• Sadness: occurs in response to loss. It gives you the time you need to integrate a painful event and regenerate. It results in a slowing of the body’s rhythm.
• Joy: increases our energy and well-being and occurs when our needs are met. It results in the secretion of pleasure hormones, which promote optimism.
• Surprise: is a reaction caused by something unexpected, new or strange. It results in a broadening of visual and auditory perceptions.
• Disgust: is a sensation of repulsion or avoidance when faced with the possibility of swallowing a substance that is not good for us. It results in a feeling of nausea.

Learn to manage your emotions better: our 3 tips.

The main aim of emotion management is to help you express your emotions clearly and calmly, with kindness towards yourself and towards the other person who receives the interpretation of your emotions.

1- identify your emotions

A study by the University of California indicates that naming emotion already helps to reduce the associated physiological activation (Liberman et al., 2007). In fact, the very fact of being able to name your emotions for yourself already helps to lessen their impact on all levels, and to soothe you.

To make identification easier, we need to go through 3 phases:

• Ask yourself whether the emotion is pleasant or unpleasant.
• Ask yourself whether it’s associated with a high energy level or a low one.
• Ask yourself what triggered the emotion.

By identifying your emotions, you’ll be able to understand them, control them, tame them and use them wisely.

2- Understanding their origins

Once you’re able to put your emotions into words, the next step in managing your emotions is to dwell for as long as you need on the wholeintellectual and psychic process that takes place at the onset of an emotion.

The aim of this work is to bring to light the main beliefs that condition you on a daily basis. It involves systematically tracing your thoughts and feelings when you are confronted with an event that destabilizes you and requires you to adjust, or with a strong emotion.

You will then be able toassociate your emotions with your current experience. This step is fundamental to managing your emotions, as it gives you back a form of freedom.

3- Express your emotions

Understanding our emotions requires an open-minded attitude, so that we can see them as useful messengers, even if we don’t always like the message or it turns out to be inaccurate. See emotion as an opportunity to understand and learn about ourselves and our environment.

Showing or keeping your emotions is neither good nor bad in itself; it depends on the context and the way you do it. What counts is flexibility: knowing when it’s useful and when it’s not.

Expressing your emotions will allow :

• Inform your interlocutor about your inner state;
• Strengthen your interpersonal skills ;
• Better regulate your emotions ;
• Better integrate life events.

How can Samaé help you?

In order to identify your emotions in depth and work on them, our experts provide you with personalized support. They help you to regulate the emotions crystallized in your body in order to free yourself from them.

Here are the most effective body and mind/emotional approaches:

• Emotional release;
• Sophrology;
• Chi Nei Tsang;
• Personal development coaching;
• Care with sacred cocoa;
• Bach flowers.

You can now book one of these services by testing the Samaé Pass for free for a month and benefit from a 15% discount. Our top experts will help you manage your emotions.