What are Emotions?

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV):

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble, with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

What are emotions?

Emotions are feelings. They are an effective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear and hate are experienced. They are a response to life situations, often influenced by our environment, thoughts, and interactions.

We hear the term emotional intelligence (EQ) – how does that affect our emotions? Emotional intelligence is the feeling mind, or part of the mind that enables us to work with emotion. We have two minds, one that thinks and one that feels. Emotional intelligence also gives us the ability to recognize, understand, regulates and express emotions which helps you express emotions more effectively and increase your self awareness and self connection. Allow yourself to recognize the emotion by sitting with the feeling.

Two ways we deal with our emotions:

1. We judge our emotions as good or bad
2. We avoid or disconnect from it

In Plutchik’s wheel there are eight primary emotions and their opposites:

• Anger vs. Joy
• Disgust vs. Admiration
• Fear vs. Trust
• Anticipation vs. Disgust

Emotions are also information they serve useful purposes and indicate a perceived need or want. They motivate action (we act as we feel) and connect us to others. Emotions are feelings triggered by our stimulus and we have a choice in how we respond.

5 Ways to Heal Emotional Eating:

Emotional Awareness: Recognize the specific emotions or situations that lead you to emotional eating. Understanding what triggers your behavior (stress, boredom, loneliness) is the first step in addressing the root cause.

Acceptance: Embracing your emotions without judgment is crucial for healing. Instead of denying or suppressing feelings, allow yourself to experience and acknowledge the emotion and/or situation that triggered it and move on. This will help lead you to emotional growth and resilience.

Navigating Distress: Distress can affect everything from personal relationships to digestion. Compulsive eating is often a cue for distress and this often a belief of control – internal locus of control and external locus of control. Internal Locus of Control belief that you have control over your own life and the outcomes you experience. This mindset fosters personal responsibility, motivation, and resilience, as they feel empowered to change or improve their circumstances. External Locus of Control you believe that external factors, such as luck, fate, or the actions of others, have a greater influence over what happens in your life. The “why does this always happen to me?” mentality.

Build Healthy Coping Strategies: Replace emotional eating with alternative, healthier coping mechanisms, such as journaling, deep breathing, or physical activity. These strategies can help you manage emotions without turning to food for comfort.

Seek Support: Surround yourself with a supportive community, whether it’s, support groups, or friends and family. Sharing your struggles and progress can provide accountability and emotional reinforcement, helping you stay on track.

Here a couple exercises to practice that may help with emotions:

Exercise 1: Spend 30 minutes recognizing your emotions, record your observations in a journal.

Notice when and how any judgement arise

1. Notice when you feel the urge to push them away or disconnect from them and how it feels to just with your emotions instead
2. Think about what your emotions are trying to tell you and how that might influence your judgements about your emotions
3. What valuable insights can you gain when certain emotions, like anger, sadness, or anxiety, are triggered?

Exercise 2: Try writing a “to don’t list” – write one thing you NEED to do, one thing you WANT to do and one thing you DON’T have to do.