Self-awareness – being in tune with your emotions may sound relatively straightforward and simple. However, people tend to overestimate their level of self-awareness. Becoming more self-aware is one of the benefits of mindfulness – the practice of focusing on the here and now and accepting whatever arises in our awareness without judgement.
Try practicing these exercises to focus on your emotions:
- Sit quietly in a comfortable position and close your eyes.
- Bring to mind something a little sad, but not overwhelming.
- Notice where in your body your feel the sadness.
- Place one of your hands on that part of your body in a caring, soothing way.
- Repeat the above steps but substitute different emotions for sadness like joy, fear, or anger.
Increasing your awareness of these bodily sensations is fundamental to becoming more emotionally intelligent. The more clearly we recognize emotions in our bodies, the more clearly we know when a feeling is arising within us. Another helpful practice is keeping a journal, or a simple note in your phone, and jot down how you felt physically when thinking or talking about a certain subject or interaction.
Reference:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/advance-your-self-awareness
