10 Ways How To Control Your Emotions, Don’t Overreact!

10 ways to control your emotions

1. Self care 

Do you know that self-care comes at the top of the list for keeping your executive function system healthy? Sleep deprivation has been demonstrated to affect self-control, indicating you will have less command over your emotional reactions. And that’s the reason why you feel terrible when your sleep is disturbed.

Moreover, your negative emotions are also associated with sleeplessness, leading to a continuous loop that exacerbates the trouble. This can also happen due to stress; thus, having a good stress management system can aid your executive functions regulation.

End of story? Find activities that can let you forget your negative emotions. Moreover, you can incorporate them into your daily routine to keep you out of that vicious cycle.

2. Maintain healthy relationships

Maintaining healthy relationships is a part of ways to control your emotions. The discharge of cortisol, a stress hormone, is connected to being in a long relationship. This shows that individuals in a relationship are less sensitive to mental stress. The social and psychological assistance accompanying a companion can be a tremendous stress reliever. There’s even proof suggesting partners who live together are happy than couples who don’t.

Relationships and general socialising can also help manage your emotions besides regulating your natural physical response to emotions. 

Also Read: Why You Should Surround Yourself With Good People

3. Practice mindfulness 

Meditation is an excellent approach to cultivating non-judgmental consciousness, and it’s a lot simpler than you would believe. Mindfulness is a psychotherapy wherein you concentrate on being acutely aware of what you’re experiencing and thinking in the present moment, without judgment or interpretations. 

Mindfulness activities can help you shift your focus away from negative thinking and toward engaging with the environment surrounding you.

It is vital to pay attention to your thoughts that resurface during this mediation. You can ask yourself:

• What kinds of thoughts do you experience, and how frequently do they occur?
• When they appear, how do you react both mentally and physically?
• When thoughts arise, are there any judgments made?
• Is that a constructive reaction, or is there a more appropriate way to respond?

4. Do what makes you happy 

Whenever you feel under emotional distress, divert your mind and body by doing what makes you happy. This distraction can be anything from leaving a distressful conversation or mentally distancing yourself by doing something enjoyable. You can try:

• Taking a walk
• Switch on the TV to watch your favourite show
• Talk to someone dear
• spending some time with loved ones

5. Identify your emotions

You must first accept your current feelings so you can shift your emotions. Are you anxious? Do you have a sense of frustration? Are you depressed?

Please remember that aggression might conceal more sensitive emotions like guilt or humiliation. As a result, pay close attention to what’s happening within you.

Put a label on your feelings. Bear in mind that you may experience a spectrum of emotions simultaneously, such as anxiety, frustration, and impatience.

When you put a name to how you’re feeling, you can pull a lot of the bitterness out of it. It can also assist you in keeping track of how such emotions are liable to influence your decisions.

6. Take a step back 

You might not realise it, but your emotional regulation hugely impacts how you perceive what is happening around you. Picture this. You are under your anxiety, and suddenly you see your boss calling. The first thought that strikes the walls of your mind is, “I must have done something terrible.”

On the other hand, if you are happy, you will think otherwise. So it is best to replace your emotional lens with a more realistic one through which you perceive the world. 

And the good news is sometimes, you can change this vision by taking a step back and poking yourself into other diverting thoughts.

You can turn your energy into something positive if you catch yourself lingering on unpleasant thoughts. You can take a deep breath whenever something unpleasant happens. You can count backwards to divert your thoughts. In other words, stop pondering and start with a fast physical task like taking a walk or tidying your workstation.

7. Choose how you want to react 

Do you know that your response to react and control emotions is a habit? And that’s the reason why some individual overreacts to even a trivial problem. Those individuals unintentionally create the habit of freaking out about undesirable situations. In simple terms, their reactions are takeover by the habit.

Listening to your feelings, identifying, understanding, and choosing them isn’t anything you do occasionally. However, you can only begin to develop the crucial ability to control your emotions via consistent work and dedication.

8. Journal daily 

Keeping a journal of your thoughts and the reactions they elicit can assist you in identifying any problematic behaviours.

It’s not always necessary to consciously recall your feelings back to your memories. Putting your sentiments into words can help you think about them more thoroughly.

It also aids in recognising when specific situations, such as workplace issues or domestic turmoil, lead to difficult-to-control emotions. Understanding particular stressors allow you to think of more effective approaches to deal with problems.

When you write daily, you will reap the greatest benefits. Keep a diary with you and make notes of any strong feelings or emotions as they arise. Make a mental note of the events as well as your responses. If your answer can’t affect, use your notebook to think of other ways to aid in the future.

9. Try meditation 

Meditation can be your go-to approach to emotional distress. Yoga or meditation can assist you in becoming more mindful of all of your sensations and thoughts. When you meditate, you’re training yourself to stay with your emotions, to observe them without condemning or trying to alter or eliminate them.

Owning your feelings might help you regulate your emotions more easily. Meditation aids in the development of accepting ability. It also has other rewards, such as assisting you in relaxing and sleeping better.

10. Talk to a coach 

If are still not able to control your emotions, and it is still dominating you, it’s important to consider expert help.

Some mental health problems, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are connected to long-term or chronic emotional problems and depressed moods. The difficulty controlling emotions can be related to trauma, domestic troubles, or other contributing issues.

A psychotherapist can provide compassionate, non-judgmental help.

Negative or undesired thoughts can be triggered by mood swings and powerful emotions, leading to sentiments of hopelessness or despair.

This loop might lead to unhealthy response strategies such as self-harm or suicidal tendencies. 

If you seek help to control your emotions, jump on a discovery call now!