Speaker 1: Hey Psych2Goers and welcome back to our channel. Have you ever deeply regretted something you said or did? Sometimes we act on impulse or let our emotions get the best of us. We have so many emotions, it's easy for them to take control. The five basic emotions are joy, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger. And they can all splinter off into many more feelings like jealousy, nervousness and disappointment, gratefulness, contendedness, and satisfaction. It can be easy to categorize our emotional outbursts as simple reactions triggered by environmental stressors, but it is in fact possible to control them. If you begin to recognize yourself as the master of your emotions, there will be fewer moments of regret or upset in your life. Mastering your emotions is hard, but anyone can do it. In this video, we'll be giving you a few tips to help you master your emotions. Number one, recognize and deconstruct your emotions. If you do not know how to articulate how or what you're feeling, it's difficult to master that emotion. Before you can articulate what you're feeling, you have to actually learn what it is that you're feeling. Developing a clear sense of what you're feeling can prevent binge behavior that stems from emotional stress. One way to develop emotional awareness is to keep track of your emotions. Ask yourself, what are you feeling and when did you start feeling that way? And what was it that caused you to feel that particular feeling? This practice of recognition prevents you from generalizing your emotions. For example, feeling bad can be broken down into many different ways, such as feeling anxious, frustrated, or afraid. Studies show that effect labeling helps reduce related stress and anxiety. Once you've developed a vocabulary for your emotions, you will then be able to deconstruct them down to physical manifestations. Physical sensations are the brain's natural way of coping with overwhelming feelings. Learning to recognize these manifestations can help you untangle yourself from your emotions. For example, if you're anxious, you may feel your heart race, your chest constrict, or have sweaty palms. When you're angry, you may feel hot, like the blood rushes to your face and neck and bubbles under your skin. You might clench your teeth or fists in anger. Or when you're sad, you may feel physically heavy and exhausted and struggle to motivate yourself to get out of bed. 2. Develop Emotional Intelligence Fostering emotional intelligence is perhaps the first step towards mastering your emotions. Emotional intelligence is a buzz-worthy word, but what is it? Generally, emotional intelligence involves the ability to identify and name emotions, coupled with the ability to harness these emotions and apply them to certain tasks, and to manage your emotions. Cultivating emotional intelligence will help you better define what you're feeling in any given situation, and thus tailor your reactions to fit the moment. You might often generalize your emotions, for example, spilling coffee on your favorite sweater automatically ruins the rest of your day. But if you learn to recognize what you're feeling at that moment, then you'll know what next steps to take so that it does not affect your entire day. Some skills that can help you cultivate emotional intelligence in your life are to practice self-awareness, learn how to channel your emotions and figure out how to motivate yourself, and also cultivate empathy for others as well as yourself. 3. Learn New Concepts New experiences can open your mind and introduce you to new perspectives, which in turn allows you to create new behavioral patterns. Many of us prefer to rely on established behavioral patterns instead of adopting a new behavior model. But having an open mind about life and viewing situations from different perspectives helps you to recognize and accept personal responsibility for your own success or failures. You can learn new concepts by experiencing new cultures, learning a new language, or reading a book. Learning new concepts stimulates your neurons and helps create new connections. Scientists suggest practicing an activity that is challenging and complex to help with this. 4. Practice Self-Care Self-care can influence how well you master your emotions. Scientists at the New Mexico Highlands University have found that walking can increase cerebral blood flow, which creates mental clarity. Exercise also decreases the chances of ruminating thoughts and decreases neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, thus improving overall mental wellness. Some other ways that you can practice self-care are by practicing good hygiene, making sure you drink enough water, and getting enough sleep. Meditation and social connection also help you balance and let out your emotions. 5. Savor Happiness Someone once said that happiness is like the weather, it comes and it goes, hence try and appreciate it when you do have it. Find the moments when it feels like it's you against the world, happiness seems like a rarity and can be easy to overlook, but try to find moments of happiness when there seems like there are none. Congratulate yourself on something you've accomplished, keep a positivity journal when you express gratitude for something that made you happy. It doesn't have to be a life-changing event, it can be something as simple as playing with a dog or treating yourself to some ice cream. Our brains are hardwired to remember negative experiences, so disrupt the pattern with remembering and holding onto happy moments and this will help you to evolve past those negative emotions. Did you find this video insightful? Mastering your emotions takes time, patience, and willingness on your part, so it's important to be kind to yourself through this process, or it isn't easy and road bumps are bound to occur. If you have any tips about your journey towards emotional acceptance and clarity, let us know in the comments below. Please like and share this video if it helped you and you think it could help someone else too. The studies and references used are listed in the description below. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button for more Psych2Go videos and as always, thank you for watching. We'll see you next time.