Wellness Wednesday
Emotional wellness involves how one feels, thinks
and copes with the challenges of life. Everyone experiences emotional or mental
stress from time to time, so it is important to take care of your emotional and
mental well-being.
Emotional Wellness includes:
● self-understanding – being aware
of and accepting of the wide range of feelings one experiences
● the ability to cope with stress
in a healthy way
● having a generally optimistic
outlook
● the capability of adjusting to
change
● managing feelings effectively
● the ability to enjoy life
One
of the most effective ways to cultivate your emotional wellness is by showing
yourself compassion. Self-compassion
is important because we often judge ourselves far more harshly than we judge
others. This can make us feel isolated, lower our feelings of self-worth, and
ultimately can cause us to feel even more stressed. Self-compassion has 3
components: mindfulness, a feeling of common humanity, and self-kindness.
The
group Greater Good in Action has created an activity backed by research called
a “Self-Compassionate Letter.”
Essentially, it asks you to write a letter to a part of yourself that makes you
feel ashamed, insecure, or not good enough. Instead of the typical harsh
judgement we use to talk to those parts of ourselves, this activity asks you to
extend compassion, understanding, and acceptance to that part. Essentially,
it’s a letter from yourself to you. You can find more information and the
instructions for the activity on their website here. They recommend that we all do this practice at least
once per month, writing new letters and re-reading older letters as issues with
those parts of ourselves continue to come up.
How
do you take care of yourself emotionally? What practices have you found that
help you when you are struggling? Let us know in the comments or on our
Facebook page!
Nicki
Phillips is a counseling intern at Esprit and a graduate student at UW Oshkosh
working towards a degree in clinical mental health counseling. She brings a fresh perspective to
her work along with a vibrant personality. She believes everyone is
inherently worthy of respect and compassion, and strives to create those
qualities in her relationships with clients. She sees clients who are
uninsured, underinsured, have a high deductible, or prefer to pay out-of-pocket
for a reduced cost. She particularly enjoys working with adolescents and young
adults, and has also worked with children (ages 5 and up) and adults. She has
immediate openings for new clients! Please schedule online at espritcounseling.com. She can also be reached via email at nicki@espritcounseling.com or by phone at (920) 383-1287.
