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Some situations you have to go through are particularly hard for you. This causes you to store up anguish and a mixture of emotions that you don’t know how to handle. Fortunately, there are several ways to take care of emotional wounds.
Here are nine ways to do just that. Join us on this journey and discover what an emotional wound is and the different ways you can take care of them.
“A healthy exterior starts from the inside.”
-Robert Urich-
What’s an emotional wound?
Emotional wounds are when uncomfortable, unpleasant, or hurtful experiences leave hurt behind in your life. They usually make you feel deep pain but they can also generate disconcerting emotions, such as fear or anger.
You experience these situations constantly, and so it’s essential to look to create paths of understanding and love in order to fight the great frustration they can cause us.
There are all kinds of emotional wounds. To recognize them quickly, it’s enough to remember all those times when you felt people treated you unfairly, and times you felt abandoned, betrayed, guilty, humiliated, lost, and broken.
Nine ways to look after emotional wounds
Emotional wounds can be healed but the deepest ones tend to return to your life at specific moments of weakness. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to treat them. We’re going to show you nine ways to do just that and explain what each of them consists of:
Self-knowledge
When you get to know yourself, you get to know who you are, what you want, and where you want to go; or, at the very least, you’re reaching those goals. This is key, because, this way, you’ll be able to recognize what’s really causing you so much harm and then work on it.
In addition to this, if you know yourself, then you know how you tend to react to certain events, and this can be used as a way of learning to be more assertive in future situations.
On the other hand, by getting to know yourself better, you’re closer to becoming an authentic person. This happens because, gradually, you start to throw off those masks that you’re hiding behind. You start to show yourself as you truly are.
Accepting emotional wounds as part of you
There’ll always be difficult moments to face in life and you must accept them in order to process them.
Sometimes, you don’t do it though, because you believe you can handle anything. Or maybe you think it’s unacceptable to feel sad, angry, or guilty, or perhaps you’re not even able to recognize the emotions that are starting to take root in you.
Taking care of emotional wounds also means accepting them. To achieve this, you must be aware of your wounds, explore them, and observe them closely. This way, you’ll begin to give the emotions permission to flourish.
To express emotional wounds is to take care of them
We must emphasize that no emotion is completely negative. They’re all necessary, and so it’s important to express them. To do so, it’s important to connect with each one and let them blossom.
How can you express emotional wounds? By simply letting yourself feel the emotions that come to you when you relive, in your mind, the situations that are painful to you.
We can express emotional wounds through words, thoughts, or actions.
- You can express them through words by writing them down or telling someone about it, or even talking about the situation out loud to yourself.
- You can express them by thoughts by simply evoking the situation in your mind.
- And, finally, by actions, you can carry out activities to express what you’re feeling, for example, by doing meditation.
Letting it flow
Sometimes, you feel unable to continue because you want to control everything, or because you stop living in the “here and now”, and spend too much time thinking about the past or the future. This can make great anxiety and depression take root in your life.
Because of this, it’s important to let it flow. Don’t struggle against the flow, just simply let things happen. Don’t get ahead of yourself, and don’t cling to the things that have happened to you. Realize that you can’t control the future, and nor can you change what happened in the past.
Managing your emotions to take care of emotional wounds
Emotional management is the key here, and taking care of emotional wounds is the lock. Thus, by being assertive with your emotions, you’ll be creating a greater well-being for yourself.
Being assertive with your emotions means using the situations you’re in, and communicating what you feel in the best possible way. In order to do this, you must learn from your past experiences and learn who you really are. This way, you’ll be able to act in a healthier way in the future.
Managing your emotions doesn’t mean that you can’t feel bad, but it does mean that you find the right moment to express it. But don’t be hard on yourself if, at some point, your emotions get out of control. Don’t forget that you’re human, and mistakes are welcome in order for you to learn.
Resilience
Resilience is the ability to overcome adversity. Some of us are blessed with this ability, but others aren’t. However, the good news is that you can cultivate it. In order to do this, you need to:
- Accept change.
- Make optimism your best ally.
- Cultivate your sense of humor.
- Look after your relationships.
- Take part in activities that make you grow and feel good.
It’s important to find meaning in your life. This is a wonderful legacy that Viktor Frankl left us in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. It’s all about finding a meaning to life that creates satisfaction and encouragement; this will be different, depending on the person.
Resilience is a great ally, because it helps you to overcome painful circumstances. It doesn’t mean that you forget about them, but it does mean that you move forward in spite of the great pain they may have caused you.
Motivation
Sometimes, it can be difficult to think of things that can motivate you. Here are some tips that can create really positive results. Let’s see:
- Do physical exercise. This is a way of taking care of emotional wounds because, in doing so, your body releases endorphins
. These are neurotransmitters that generate a sense of well-being.
- Art. Performing any kind of art or going to see it can be beneficial, because it’s a way of transforming anxieties. We can use it to reflect on them, identify with what we see, or to project them towards the activity.
- Meditation. This is a door to consciousness, which will help you to begin to see the things that happened to you from another perspective.
However, any other activity that makes you feel good can be very beneficial. Sometimes, in order to take care of your emotional wounds, it’s important to disconnect, or to view what’s causing you harm from a different perspective. That’s why getting involved in activities like this is very favorable. You’ll know which is the best type of activity for the situation you’re experiencing.
Ask for help
It’s often hard for you to accept that you can’t handle everything – you’re not omnipotent! An important part of taking care of emotional wounds is recognizing that, sometimes, you can use a helping hand. Even when you’re the one looking after someone else’s emotional wounds, you may not know how to act.
It’s a good idea to seek professional help to try to heal emotional wounds or, at least, to care for them. Constant care will make you feel better and will improve your quality of life.
Psychologists are experts in human behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, and emotions. Because of this, they can help you to manage those things that are hurting you so much and to enable you to enhance or maintain healthy habits.
Empathy, essential for taking care of emotional wounds
Remember that you’re not alone in what you’re feeling. So, while you take care of your own emotional wounds, you can also look after those of other people. To do so, you need to connect with them.
Empathy consists of putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. Only in this way can you deeply understand what’s happening to them, be in tune with them, and look for the best ways that you could be of help to them.
Caring through empathy means giving the best of yourself, taking into account what the other person is feeling and needing. It means using compassion, assertiveness, and understanding to give others the best possible care and act as an emotional support for them.
Looking after your emotional wounds isn’t easy, but it is possible. It’s important for you to be consistent in your day-to-day life, in order to truly feel better. Being attentive to yourself and to others is beneficial to your quality of life.
Connect with the deepest part of you, be in tune with yourself, let life flow, and be assertive with your emotions. Don’t be ashamed to ask for help when you consider it necessary. Make empathy a tool to interact with others, cultivate resilience, and motivate yourself with the activities you like the most.
Accept the things that have happened to you, release your wings, and take flight on the adventure of looking after yourself and those around you.
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The post 9 Ways to Look After Your Emotional Wounds appeared first on Exploring your mind.
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