6 steps to better emotional wellbeing
Dr Bach said, ” There is no true healing unless there is a change in outlook, peace of mind and inner happiness.”
Dr Bach felt that patients might be more likely to have physical problems because of fear, anxiety, insecurity, jealousy, shyness, anger, depression, resentment, or feeling unsure about themselves. Research has found a link between an upbeat mental state and improved health, including lower blood pressure, reduced risk for heart disease, healthier weight, better blood sugar levels, and longer life.
Emotional healthy people are aware of their thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Our thoughts are our inner dialogue. We have approximately six thousand thoughts in a day, most of which we habitually repeat to ourselves. Our perception and reaction pattern is based on our belief system, about how we look at ourselves and at our environment, which gets formed with our experiences with our primary caregiver. Many of these beliefs no longer serve us as we go through life.
Our beliefs influence our thoughts, which in turn trigger emotions. We may think an event or person’s actions are the reason behind an unpleasant emotion, but the real cause is our perception. When we have healthy belief systems and thought patterns, our emotions become a wonderful feedback mechanism. Being able to identify, understand and channelize our emotions in a constructive way is critical to happiness.
The positive or feel good emotions tell us that our some of our inner drives and goals are being met. However, sometimes these feelings can be misleading and not in our best interest like in the case of addictive food and activities. Unpleasant emotions such as anger, guilt, shame and anxiety provide us vital information on where we are as opposed to where we aspire to be. They invite us to understand what actions and changes will support our vision and goals. Our success in overcoming problems is related to our ability to understand our full range of emotions, and allowing them to inform our decisions.
How can we become more aware of our thoughts and emotions and retune our belief system? Try this little exercise the next time you are faced with a situation that habitually triggers a strong emotional reaction.
- The next time you find yourself in a situation that is your emotional trigger, step back and centre yourself by taking a few slow deep breaths.
- Then observe and identify your emotions – is it anger, guilt, hurt or something else, and note it down on a piece of paper.
- Pause and feel each of the above emotions, and notice the physical sensations in your body that are triggered with each emotion and note them too.
- Accept your emotions and tell yourself that you can you can handle this wisely and calmly.
- Now picture your self in the triggering event and observe your thoughts and self talk, in particular your toxic thinking patterns. Make a note of this.
- Now connect all of the above to realize that it was not the event or situation that triggered your emotional reaction but actually your self talk and thinking pattern. This also makes us realize that we are in charge of what we feel. Once we are able to identify our negative self talk and thinking, we can change the root cause of our emotional triggers.
We can retune our belief system on an ongoing basis by repeating this exercise in trigger situations. We can choose healthier thoughts and use the wisdom of our emotions to make more aligned life choices, and thereby have better health and wellbeing.
Bach Flower Remedies, natural flower based essences, discovered by Dr Edward Bach, can assist us in the endeavor of reaching better emotional balance and wellbeing. Dr Bach’s remedies address each negative emotion and help us overcome our fear and face it with courage.
Olive Tree, our wellness centre in South Delhi, promotes wellbeing through healing with and learning Bach Flower Remedies. As practitioners of alternative medicine our aim is to enhance wellness and healing by restoring the mind and body harmony.
Our services include Bach Flower Therapy consultation (at centre and online), a Bach Centre UK certified short distance learning programme, and a shop that sells Bach flower essences. To know more call us on 9717146337 or write to us on info@olive-tree.in.
