Emotional Expression

Emotions are a terribly wonderful thing aren't they? I mean, they help us connect. They help us know where our values may be. They help us 'feel' life. And man oh man, they can get us all tangled into knots!

Emotions are universal. And emotions are necessary for our survival in so many ways.

So what are emotions?

They are a combination of physical sensations in our body, that we come to group together and know as whichever emotion we identify them as. Emotions are VISCERAL - literally the insides of our bodies.

We grow up having emotions and we learn rather quickly and most often unconsciously, which emotions get us love, which ones bring us safety, which emotions create guilt and shame and which emotions should just never be expressed.

Our primary caregiver(s) model for us - all of the emotions we can feel and connect with. And they model the expression of these emotions.

If we grew up not being shown a full range of emotions, we may struggle to identify them in ourselves.

If we grew up having emotions that were not compassionately SEEN and HEARD, we may build a coping mechanism against those emotions (think sadness or anger or excitement) or perhaps a coping mechanism against experiencing most of the emotions.

Emotions are universal and they are crucial for not only our survival but they are pivotal in our relationships.

Now aside from the obvious here, emotions are pivotal in our relationships because they help us learn and practice our emotional intelligence. They are what creates CONNECTION between us all.

Let me say it this way....

If I did not learn the sensations of an emotion and the language of that emotion within myself, I may really struggle to identify it in another person. If I struggle to identify it in another person, I can very easily misread or misunderstand that person and sadly I may even not SEE and HEAR them in their emotional expression. This creates rupture in relationship.

There is so much buzz out in the world about our physical health. And there is increasing buzz out there (as there should be!) about our mental health. And honestly I think there should be an entirely separate category out there about our emotional health - or emotional vitality as I like to call it.

Now I get it, emotional health is part of mental health. But let me share with you an 'insider' perspective!

Mental health is a very vast and dynamic area we can invest in ourselves. And its totally important! But very easily we can brush over the area of knowledge, skills, and tools related to understanding our physical body, sensations, emotions, emotional language and the act of emotional expression. There are more details that easily get missed.

So much of my work as a nurse and as a counsellor is educating people on the physical body, functions and common or even situational experiences of the body. And emotions is a huge part of this! Becoming acquainted with your emotional body as much as your physical body.

Back to emotional expression!

We all have emotions, some of us maybe don't have the full range of emotions for whatever reason (and there are many reasons here worth exploring in counselling). Getting to know our emotional body means getting to know our expression type - how do we MOVE that emotion through us.

From first noticing the sensation, to identifying the emotion, to finding the language to describe it and the outlet to transfer it to - this is emotional expression.

Little 'nerdy' nugget of knowledge for today - there is such a thing as "alexithymia" and it is the inability to acknowledge and identify emotions in oneself and in others. (*This term is commonly used in reference to traumatic life events that occur before language and cognitive skills are more developed).

Now alexithymia is a more severe event and I wouldn't use that word casually for folks. However. Our emotional self knowledge across the board - could use some TLC. If our emotional self knowledge was improved, I want to argue that our emotional SELF-CONFIDENCE would also improve. And this naturally would lead to improved connection with others.

Curious to know a little more about emotional expression?

Check this out!

If you are interested in learning more about emotions and your common expression types, head over to the quiz to get a better idea of your possible emotional expression type. OR! Take a look at the webinar posted below (or on the webinars page of the site). The webinar is a 40 minute presentation with slides and myself walking you through the information. There are prompting questions to deepen your learning and self reflection and start to build your emotional self confidence.

As always,

Journey on....

Chrissy

Emotional Expression Types

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